Manila Standard - 2017 May 12 - Friday

Napoles to tell all on PDAF —lawyer

By Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos Araneta SUSPECTED pork barrel scam architect Janet Lim-Napoles is ready to name more government officials involved in the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, her lawyer said Thursday.

“Of course there will be more officials,” said lawyer Stephen David, who emerged from a closed-door meeting with Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II. David said Napoles is willing to cooperate with the Justice Department’s reinvestigation of the multi-billion-peso pork barrel fund anomaly, and submit a longer list of politicians who benefited from it.

He hinted that this would include officials from the previous Next page

DFA head vows not to talk too much VOL. XXXI • NO. 87 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

ECONOMIC FORUM. Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen (left), Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte

(center) and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc sit on the stage during the opening of World Economic Forum on Asean in Phnom Penh on May 11, 2017. Cambodia hosts the World Economic Forum on Asean in Phnom Penh from May 10 to 12, 2017. AFP

Govt on alert against terror

PHNOM PENH―Newly appointed Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said Wednesday night that one of the bigger challenges he would have to face as the country’s top diplomat would be to refrain from talking too much in public.

In a press briefing requested

by Philippine media at the Himawari Hotel here, Cayetano said many things in diplomacy could not be spoken into the microphone.

“You gave me too much credit because I hold the microphone.

Actually, the bigger challenge for me now is if politicians like microphones, diplomats should not engage in microphone diplomacy,” he said.

“It is different when you are implementing a strategy, when Next page

PH-China ‘war games’ not advisable—Carpio

By Rey E. Requejo and Sara Susanne D. Fabunan SENIOR Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Thursday objected to a proposal for joint military exercises between China and the Philippines because it gives the impression that the country’s sov-

ereign rights in the West Philippine Sea are not secured.

Carpio, who has been in the forefront of the campaign to assert the Philippines’ territorial jurisdiction over several islands in the West Philippine Sea, said he finds it ironic for the Philippines to have joint patrols with China in Next page

Palace: All units, assets ready to thwart threat

By John Paolo Bencito

T

HE full might of the government will be used to block the entry of terrorists into the country amid “credible information” that the Abu Sayyaf and other groups were planning to kidnap foreign nationals in Palawan, Malacañang said Thursday.

After the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom issued travel warnings, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said the government is ready to counter any threats to national security.

“All units and assets are being utilized to ensure maximum security to deny any terrorist group’s entry and access in the high seas and coastal areas,” Abella said in a statement.

“Public safety is everyone’s concern. We assure everyone that the government is on top of the situation and authorities, particularly those in the Western Command, which covers the province of Palawan, are on heightened alert to prevent any untoward incidents,” he added.

On Wednesday, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered security forces to finish off terrorists by shooting them on sight amid the country’s growing security concerns.

“Wescom, along with the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine National Police, as well as the provincial government of Palawan and the city government of Puerto Princesa, are in close coordination in enforcing law and order,” Abella said.

The Palace also urged cooperation from residents and tourists

“to be mindful and immediately report to law enforcement units any questionable individual or activity in the areas.”

Meanwhile, leftist groups express concern about the number of military men appointed by the President to his Cabinet, saying this could hurt peace talks with the communist rebels.

“President Duterte has been surrounding himself with retired generals whom he has appointed to various Cabinet posts. This increases the rightist-militarist pull within the Cabinet. This will likely have a negative effect on the ongoing peace talks. It will make negotiations that much harder,” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes Jr., said.

“They [generals] will likely work in tandem with the conservatives and neo-liberals and overwhelm whatever progressive trends left in the Duterte adminstration,” he said.

On Wednesday, Duterte named current Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Eduardo Año, who is set to retire in October, as the next chief of the Department of the Interior and Local Government. Four other former generals are currently serving in high-profile Next page

BIFF WEAPONS. Military division commander Major General Arnel B. Dela Vega and other officers check out high-powered firearms recovered from the renegade Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters on Thursday, May 11, 2017 during a press conference at Camp Sionco Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao. Military operations carried out in five days in different areas in Maguindanao brought the number of casualties that the BIFF suffered from the initial report of 20 killed on the first day to 31 killed and another four wounded so far. Mark Navales

DAR, farmers face contempt for defying SC THE Supreme Court has ordered the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Hacienda Luisita (Ambala) to explain why they should not be held in contempt of court for failing to comply with its 2011 decision mandating the total distribution of the 4,915.75-hectare Hacienda

Luisita, a vast sugar plantation owned by the family of former President Benigno Aquino III, to farmer-beneficiaries.

In an en banc resolution dated May 3, the Court gave DAR and Ambala a non-extendible period of 10 days to submit their respective explanations.

The show cause order was is-

By John Paolo Bencito and PNA

By Julito G. Rada

Next page

a conversion order issued by the DAR itself.

Included in this area is the 184 hectares belonging to RCBC. RCBC also said that the Court had already ruled that the conditions of the conversion order covering the property had been met.

On April 23, 2017, farm workers Next page

Secure Asean’s future, destroy drugs—Du30

Mining bloc assured of due process FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Thursday the suspension of mining operations in the country will “never” happen again without due process as a strong governance framework is what the industry needs and not an “arbitrary” ban. “... Never again will suspension be meted out on unseen audits... and without legal basis.

The solution is to improve governance, to ensure sustainability of the environment...,” Dominguez said during the opening ceremony of the Ph ilippine Extractive Industries Transparency

sued in response to the motion filed by Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. on April 27, 2017, which claimed that Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano violated the Court ruling, which directed the DAR to segregate, among other parcels, a 500-hectare lot that had already been converted into industrial land under

PRICE HIKE. Buyers begin stocking up on their grains supply as prices of rice increase by a range of P50 to P100 per sack with harvest ending soon. Norman Cruz

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte told the member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to secure the future of the region’s youth by destroying the drug apparatuses.

He made the statement even as the members of his Cabinet pitched his ambitious P8-trillion infrastructure development plan that took the international stage during the World Economic Forum in the Cambodian Capital Thursday.

Duterte, who heads the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year, told an audience that included Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Laos Prime Minister Thongloun

Sisoulith and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc to secure the youth from the evils of illegal drugs.

“The Asean youth are among the best and are most creative, intelligent and innovative in the world. We must empower them to be the best version of themselves,” Duterte said.

“But we cannot turn a blind eye [to] the scourge of illegal drugs that threaten our youth and the future of our societies. We need to take a committed stand to dismantle and destroy the illegal drugs trade apparatus. We must reaffirm our commitment to realize a drugfree Asean community.”

Duterte attended the World Economic Forum focusing on Next page

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FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Palace: Mocha's word hers alone

PH-China...

From A1

very carefully what declarations we make before the world,” Carpio said.

“There is a principle in international law that statements of the President, unilateral statements can bind the country because as far as the international [community] is concerned, your head of state binds your country whenever he speaks,” he said.

Carpio explained that if a government official waives the country’s sovereign rights as was awarded by the international tribunal, “that would be a betrayal of public trust.”

“If you are no match for China, we don’t have to waive it. You can insist, even if you cannot physically get it, but you must keep on insisting because if you waive it, it is gone forever,” Carpio said, believing that China “will never give it back.”

“We are not the final judge of whether we have waived it or not. It could be an international tribunal,” said Carpio, who was part of the country’s battery of lawyers that initiated the case against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

Earlier, the AFP said China has continued its expansion in the disputed South China Sea, with vessels spotted even in the Philippine Sea. Maj. Gen. Felimon Santos Jr., AFP deputy chief of staff for intelligence, described China’s presence in the South China Sea and Philippine Sea as “intensifying.”

“Aside from China’s continued land reclamation and construction operations in its seven reclaimed features, Beijing is intensifying the deployment of its maritime assets in the South China Sea and even in the Philippine Sea,” Santos said.

He also showed slides of the most recent areas where Chinese research vessels have passed, including waters close to the Philippines.

Xiang Yang Hong 03 reportedly stayed for nine days northwest of Vigan City in Ilocos Sur, while Xiang Yang Hong 06 stayed for 19 days until finally being seen 226 nautical miles northeast of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, the military official said.

One more Chinese vessel was spotted inside the waters of Mindoro, but it seemed to be tailing another warship from another nation.

“By all indications, China is undertaking all necessary moves toward attaining full dominance in the South China Sea,” Santos said.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Robespierre Bolivar said that the department will raise the matter of the Chinese ships with Beijing.

“We have bilateral and multilateral mechanisms through which we can raise this issue with the Chinese side,” Bolivar said.

Ambassador to Beijing, Jose Santiago Sta. Romana, however, said the Philippines will try to work around the areas of contention with China.

DFA...

fairs secretary until he quit the Senate.

“If he’s just acting, he cannot make permanent appointments, he cannot sign vouchers until he resigns as senator and until such time that he is formally confirmed by the Commission on Appointments,” Escudero said.

• A draft report by the Universal Periodic Review Working Group has called on the Philippines to end the extrajudicial killings that have claimed thousands of lives in the government’s war on drugs and scrap the plan of reimposing of death penalty.

The complete report will be made available late Thursday night, but the draft of the UPR Working Group said 257 recommendations to the Philippines were made by 95 participating states during the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Cayetano said it was the duty of the government to be transparent and to enlighten the public on all its policies.

But he said policy was differ-

ent from strategy and his new post would preclude him from telegraphing the government’s hand in any negotiation.

“Sometimes, people want to question or discuss policies. But if you are in the middle of a struggle, you cannot lay your strategy before the world,” Cayetano said.

But he said he was willing to engage Congress, the media and other interest groups in private discussions.

“I would like to institutionalize more briefings that are off the record to the media, to the Senate, to the House and to other interested groups so that they will know the information that we know,” he said.

“Because sometimes we lack information but when we do those briefings, it’s with the understanding that there are things that are not for broadcast. For instance, negotiations. They need something, we need something. There are a lot of things about diplomacy that you cannot use the microphone.” PNA with John Paolo Bencito, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

Secure...

rates in the coming years,” he said.

“The youth is certainly a key sector that we must invest in.

The Asean Work Plan on Youth 2016-2020 encourages youth entrepreneurship, employment, and employability awareness, volunteerism and resilience. The plan deserves our full support.”

The President said an integrated Asean must focus on sustainable infrastructure, digital innovation, seamless logistics, regulatory excellence and people mobility.

“Most importantly, we should invest in human capital development,” Duterte said as he noted that the youth is an essential consideration for the region.

Duterte said the Asean had emerged into a significant global player in promoting peace and stability in the region and as an emerging economic powerhouse.

“The region is now the world’s sixth largest economy, the third largest consumer base. Asean is home to more than 600 million people, making it larger than the European Union or North America,” Duterte said.

“Asean has the third-largest labor force in the world and our young population is producing a demographic dividend.

“But while we celebrate Asean’s achievement, we recognize that more needs to be done for our people.”

Meanwhile, senior members of his economic team, including Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, and Bases Conversion and Development Authority chairman Vince Dizon pitched to investors the discussions on the Philippines’ economic and social development blueprint.

“We are emerging from our cocoon with a rapidly growing economy and a young and hardworking population. We have enjoyed positive growth every year for the last 19 years,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said.

A

Govt...

NY pronouncement by outspoken former sexy starlet and now Presidential Communications Operations Office Assistant Secretary Margaux "Mocha" Uson would not necessarily translate as the position taken by the government, Malacañang said Thursday. of fighting fake news, something she had been accused of propagating on her blog.

“It’s time for us to stop relying on the wrong reports from some mainstream media, and to strengthen social media with the help of true members of the DDS [Die-hard Duterte Supporters]. Because we are the media of Tatay Digong,” Uson said in her Mocha Uson Blog.

On Thursday, Uson made a disclaimer that “the opinions expressed here represent my own views and not of the PCOO.” As a government official, Uson is bound to follow the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees,” which expects norms for public officers and employees, including ‘professionalism,’ ‘justness and sincerity,’ and ‘political neutrality.’

DAR,...

cil (PARC), which revoked the stock distribution option plan (SDO) that have been offered to the original 6,296 farmer beneficiaries of Hacienda Luisita, in lieu of land distribution, which is mandated under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

But the Court affirmed with modification PARC’s Resolution No. 2005-32-01 issued on Dec. 22, 2005 by allowing the original farmer-beneficiaries to choose to remain as stockholders of HLI or get the land due to them.

In a resolution issued on Nov. 22, 2011, the Court modified its July 5, 2011 decision by directing the total distribution of the plantation to its farmer-beneficiaries.

The tribunal granted the partial motions for reconsideration filed by Presidential Agrarian Reform Council and the Department of Agrarian Reform, Alyansa ng mga Mangagawang Bukid sa Hacienda Luisita, and the Farmworkers Agrarian Reform Movement Inc. seeking to recall and set aside its decision with respect to the option granted to the farmworker-beneficiaries to remain with HLI through the stock distribution plan. Rey E. Requejo

From A1

and various militant groups staged a rally in front of RCBC properties claiming rights to the land by virtue of the DAR’s revocation order.

The rally later on escalated to violence against RCBC’s personnel and destruction of its properties.

The SC also ordered DAR to comment on RCBC’s motion.

“Acting on the urgent motion for the issuance of a writ of execution and/or cease and desist dated April 27, 2017, the Court resolved to require respondents Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano and Alyansa ng mga Mangagawang Bukid sa Hacienda Luisita (Ambala) to comment thereon and show cause why they should not be held in contempt of court for disobeying thee decision dated July 5, 2011 and the resolutions dated November 22, 2011 and April 24, 2012 both within a non-extendible period of 10 days from notice hereof,” the Court said.

In its July 5, 2011 decision, the Court upheld the validity of the order issued by the Presidential Agrarian Reform Coun-

Mining...

From A1

Initiative national conference at The Manila Hotel.

Former Environment Secretary Gina Lopez refused to release the audit results and the actual documents on the 23 closed and five suspended mining firms in early February.

Dominguez assured the stakeholders in the extractive industries that the Duterte administration “will be firm but fair” in exercising strong governance while practicing transparency in all its processes and abiding by global best practices in ensuring sustainable development.

“The solution is not to arbitrarily ban extractive industries, whatever contractual obligations government has with investors,” Dominguez said.

“The solution is to improve governance so that we get the best of both worlds: Ensuring the sustainability of our environment on one hand and creating wealth for our people from our natural endowments on the other.”

To ensure transparency, Dominguez said, suspensions “on the basis of unseen audits” and “honest industries subjected to levies without legal basis” would “never again” happen on Duterte’s watch.

“One could be environmentfriendly and business-friendly at the same time. They are not mutually exclusive inclinations.

Only the zealots think they are,” he said.

“We need to encourage and not suppress the extractive industries. They are necessary to

help our economy develop, to bring the revenues that government needs and to create opportunities for the communities that host these industries.”

Lopez’ appointment as Environment chief was finally rejected by the Commission on Appointments early this month after she was bypassed by the commission twice earlier.

Dominguez, who co-chairs the Mining Industry Coordinating Council with the secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, likewise expressed his support for the Philippines’ participation in EITI to set standards of honesty and openness, along with the benchmarks of responsibility to the communities hosting the extractive industries.

EITI is an international initiative that promotes a global standard of transparency in the extractive industries. The Philippines was admitted as an EITI candidate country in May 2013.

The validation of its bid to be EITI-compliant is expected to be known next month.

Meanwhile, the third PH EITI report released Thursday showed that the total revenue collection in 2014 from mining and oil and gas companies grew 32 percent to P53.8 billion over the 2013 level.

Of this amount, the mining firms accounted for P11.4 billion and the oil and gas companies P42.4 billion. The Department of Energy was responsible for 50 percent of the total collection while the Bureau of Internal Revenue accounted for 43.7 percent.

From A1

administration with positions “higher than lawmakers.”

“If she will become state witness, she should tell everything she knows... Whoever is involved should really be exposed,” the lawyer said.

Aguirre said the reinvestigation would look into why Napoles went to the Palace to surrender, and why she was accompanied by President Benigno Aquino III and then Interior secretary Manuel Roxas II to police headquarters in Camp Crame.

David said he discussed the possibility of Napoles becoming a state witness, and added that they were concerned about security.

“We are requesting, on our part, that she should be given a proper security should this propositions push through,” he said.

The lawyer has filed a motion before the Sandiganbayan, where Napoles is facing plunder and graft cases, seeking her transfer from the Correctional Institute for Women to the National Bureau of Investigation or the Philippine National Police custodial center following her acquittal in the serious illegal detention case by the Court of Appeals.

Aguirre supported Napoles’ transfer and said he immediately asked the NBI to find a detention facility at its Manila headquarters.

“I’m talking to NBI officials on the possibility of Napoles [being] accommodated in the NBI, in view of the continued threats against her,” Aguirre told reporters after meeting with David.

David recalled that the possibility of Napoles becoming state witness was already raised before the Office of the Ombudsman during the previous administration.

“We already had talks before, but it did not push through because there were allies of the previous administration,” he said.

David also said Napoles could qualify as state witness in the plunder cases.

“The case of plunder is a crime committed by a public officer. It just so happened that there are private individuals involved in the conspiracy. In that case, they cannot be considered as most guilty,” he said.

This supported the earlier statement of Aguirre that in cases of plunder or corruption involving a government official and a private individual, the former is considered the most guilty, according to a ruling of the Supreme Court.

Senator Francis Escudero said it was apparent that the Duterte administration was training its guns on Aquino and Roxas with its plan to make Napoles a state witness.

Escudero noted the previous administration focused only on its enemies in the pork barrel investigation. He said he hoped this would not be the case under Duterte.

“Whether allies or rivals, they should look at it,” Escudero said.

He said he was for a reinvestigation because of the P14 billion in diverted pork, only P6 billion went to bogus organizations operated by Napoles.

“Are we going to forget the P6 billion or P8 billion?” Escudero said.

He also wanted to know what happened to the others named by Napoles.

By John Paolo Bencito

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said any pronouncement by the controversial blogger would remain hers and would not represent the views of the Palace.

“These, as far as I know, will come from a personal point of view. I mean, from her personal appointment,” Abella said.

“She will not be [part of the Presidential Communications Office as] a blogger but as part of the PCOO.” Abella defended Uson’s risque interactions with her mostly male audience as an entertainer, saying “these are matters of the past.”

Uson, who maintains a personal blog with more than five million “likes” in Facebook, will also “produce social media content” for the PCOO as assistant secretary for Social media.

In a recent Facebook post, Uson said she was put in charge

Napoles...

From A1

This photo taken on Feb. 25, 2017 shows Mocha Uson, a blogger and supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte, onstage during a pro-Duterte rally at a park in Manila, coinciding with the 'People Power' revolution anniversary. AFP

the disputed areas when Beijing is claiming ownership of most areas of the South China Sea, including the islands within the WPS. “Since China claims the West Philippine Sea, it will be strange for us to agree that they patrol that area with us because when we allow it, that might be an implied admission that our sovereign rights are not that secure or firm,” Carpio said in a TV interview on the ANC news channel.

Carpio said he is in favor of joint patrols of the disputed waters with the United States since the Philippines has an existing mutual defense treaty with the US, and is the only country that has offered joint patrols.

The senior Supreme Court justice made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte said that China can hold joint military exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the Sulu Sea to combat the kidnapping activities of terror group Abu Sayyaf.

Carpio also cautioned President Duterte about making pronouncements as the country is warming up relations with Beijing, noting that the Chief Executive’s words could easily be misinterpreted as waiving the country’s sovereignty.

“The other side could argue that that is the implication, so we should be very careful, we have to weigh

From A1 you are criticizing something. So that’s a bigger challenge for me.”

In other developments: • Even if he hasn’t taken his oath yet as Foreign Affairs secretary, Senator Cayetano on Wednesday vowed to resign and get jailed if it could be proven that he misled a United Nations body in Geneva on the number of drug-related deaths under President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody drug war.

Straight from Geneva where he tried to defend the country’s human rights record before the United Nations Periodic Review, Cayetano said he was willing to risk his new position if it could be proved that there was a “sudden wave” of statesponsored extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

• Cayetano should formally resign as a senator before assuming his new post, Senator Francis Escudero said Thursday.

He said Cayetano could not fully perform his new job as Foreign Af-

From A1

Asean’s development that brings together leaders of nations, thought leaders, ministers and top CEOs of private companies.

Duterte said investing in the human capital should be a priority considering that the Asean was turning into an economic powerhouse with its young population.

“Most importantly, we should invest in human capital. Analysts point out that the Philippines, together with the Southeast Asian countries, is a demographic sweet spot and is likely to post Asia’s fastest economic growth

and sensitive positions: Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon and National Irrigation Administration chief Ricardo Visaya.

In a Palace briefing last week, Esperon branded communists as the “number one internal threat to national security” in terms of disrupting the democratic way of life of Filipinos with the ideology that they espouse.

While government and communist negotiators continue to engage with each other, the Communist Party of the Philippines tagged Esperon, along with Lorenzana and Año as “peace-spoiling stooges of US imperialism in the military establishment” after security officials tagged the group as “terrorists” for their revolutionary tax collection and territorial claims.

Three members of progressive groups were earlier recommended by the National Democratic Front to join Duterte’s Cabinet, including Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano and Labor Undersecretary Joel Maglungsod.

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FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

DND misused relief fund —CoA

By Rio N. Araja THE Commission on Audit said on Thursday that the Department of National Defense has incurred P74,672,986.72 in unauthorized expenses from its quick response fund.

The CoA sad that the P74,672,986.72 fund was reportedly used in the procurement of supplies and equipment worth P29.81 million as well as for the repair and construction of buildings totaling P44.47 million contrary to the intended use of the QRF as “stand-by fund for relief and recovery programs” to ensure that the living conditions of the people in typhoon-stricken areas would go back to normal.

The amount was taken out of the DND’s QRF in 2014 at P74.29 million and 2015 at P386,835.

“Disbursements… was not in accordance with the guidelines set on how the QRF shall be utilized. It is expressly provided that the QRF shall in no case be used for pre-disaster activities nor be realigned for any other purpose,” the CoA stressed.

Details provided in the audit report showed the breakdown of the QRF expenses as Astartez Defense and Rescue Solutions at P11.218 million for individual defense equipment for Philippine Air Force; Boston Home Inc., P6.19 million for two water purification units with trailer; Dane Degala Pharmacy, P4.999 million for air ambulance equipment; JV of Philippine Life Saving Equipment Inc., P1.04 million for specialized equipment for rescue boats; Dane Degala Pharmacy, P981,200 for drugs and medicines for Air Force; PJ Cruz Construction and Trading, P980,100 for the supply and delivery of 90,000 bottles purified water; Stone of David Tactical Equipment Co., P3.824 million for ready-to-eat meals; Armada Rescue and Safety Equipment Corp., P116,880 for 10 percent retention fee; Oliveros Protective Equipment and Maritime Supplies, P134,000 for 10 percent retention fee; PJ Cruz Construction and Trading, P331,600 for 10 percent retention fee; Aeromaxis Maintenance Products Inc., P33.074 million for repairs and spare parts for Huey helicopter; FJ Tiu Associates Construction and Development, P1.683 million for the construction of MIG8 field office; Forman Construction Services, P260,088 for the repair of NolCom health center; Forman Construction Services, P643,880 for the repair of other structures in NolCom; Forman Construction Services, P1.7 million for the power supply system of NolCom; Forman Construction Services, P269,850 repair of NolCom market; Forman Construction Services, P254,966 for the repair of a school building; Forman Construction Services, P1.051 million for the repair of a building, and Forman Construction Services, P5.539 million repair of another building.

PINOY PRIDE. Francis Sollano, a

Cebu-based artist and designer, proudly displays his creations at the World Economic Forum on Asean in Phnom Penh Cambodia, Sollano is the only Filipino designer to be accorded the honor to display his works at the WEF.

DoLE may stop sending OFWs to Middle East T

By Vito Barcelo and Macon Ramos-Araneta

HE government is considering the possibility of suspending the deployment of Filipino workers in the Middle East countries due to rising cases of abuses and maltreatments of Filipino workers, particularly domestic helpers, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said.

“I received a lot of concerns and complaints from our Filipino household workers in the Middle East. This is why I am seriously considering, if not to suspend, to decrease the number of deployment of domestic helpers, OFWs, and skilled workers especially in the Middle East,” Bello said.

Bello said that OFWs, especially those deployed in Arab countries, are highly susceptible to abuses by their employers.

Migrant groups said there

are more than 5,000 distressed OFWs different countries in the Middle East, with Kuwait having the highest number of distressed OFWs now housed in POLO-OWWA centers in the Middle East, most of whom are victims of verbal, physical, or sexual abuse.

But at the time, the labor chief said the country has scarce skilled workers such as carpenters, electrician, plumber, because they choose to work overseas for a much higher pay.

“We are studying the level of

shortage of our skilled workers in the country. Even I had experienced this. Before, I can easily get a plumber at a much lesser cost, but now, even if you offer a considerable amount of fee, these skilled workers would ignore you. So we should now slow down in processing the deployment of these skilled workers,” Bello said.

He said the Labor Department is fast-tracking the training of skilled workers to immediately address the shortage problem.

“They are in demand. Skilled workers shortage problem in the country is big. I am in talks with our agencies to fast-track their training for the benefit of the country. We need to prioritize our own skilled workers,” he said.

He added that after the training of the skilled workers that is the time when they can acquire more experience and get better jobs and positions in the country for a much higher wages and benefits.

In a related development, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III called for the immediate passage of a bill establishing a Department of Overseas Filipino Workers (DOFW) that will exclusively cater to the interests of over two-million Filipinos working overseas Senate Bill No. 1445, or the DOFW Act, aims to streamline various government programs and initiatives for OFWs that are currently spread among various government agencies.

Pimentel said the need for the creation of a DOFW are both urgent and practical.

“We have 2.4-million Filipinos working overseas who can’t get immediate and efficient assistance from a centralized government agency that exclusively caters to their needs and their welfare,” said the legislator from Mindanao.

“We’ve been sending Filipino workers abroad since the 70s but till today, we don’t have a single,

unified department for them. The time to address this governmental vacuum is now,” he added.

Pimentel noted that cash remittances from OFWs set record highs in 2016, reaching 26.9 billion US dollars, which is five percent higher compared to 2015’s 25.61 billion.

“I share the sentiment of finance and economic experts who say that the Philippine economy will not survive without the steady influx of OFW remittances. Our OFWs are truly our modern-day heroes.”

Because of this, Pimentel said it is only appropriate that one centralized agency cater to the needs of Filipinos working beyond our shores.

“When OFWs are in distress and seek government help, we tell them to go to the DFA, POEA, OWWA, DoLE, and other agencies which require a high level of coordination that is difficult to achieve with separate agencies,” Pimentel said

Belmonte Sr. to stay with LP—Joy

By Rio N. Araja DESPITE the defection of Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte from the Liberal Party to the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, former House Speaker Feli-

ciano Belmonte Jr., will stay with L P. The vice mayor said her father will stay at the LP. “No, he will not move,” the younger Belmonte said in a television interview.

She said her father will re-

tire from politics after his last term.

The older Belmonte served as mayor of Quezon City and a three-term representative of the city’s District 4.

He was speaker of the House of Representatives from 2010

to 2016.

Earlier, Lanao del Sur Rep. Ansaruddin Adiong, Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo and Rep. Alfred Vargas, North Cotabato Rep. Nancy Catamco and Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman jumped from the LP to

the PDP-Laban.

They were joined by other members of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, Nacionalista Party and Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats who also joined the ruling majority party.

A4

Opinion

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

PH tourism in peril

F

OREIGN tourist arrivals are certain to slow down in the face of the negative travel advisories issued by the US, Canada and the United Kingdom on the Philippines.

President Rodrigo Duterte took the warning seriously after the three countries warned their citizens against traveling to Palawan amid “credible information” that groups were planning to kidnap foreign nationals there. The President

Adelle Chua, Editor

conceded that the Philippines had a problem with terrorism, citing the arrival of the dreaded terror group ISIS in the country.

The ISIS and the bandit group Abu Sayyaf have planned to conduct kidnapping operations targeting

foreign nationals in popular exotic places like Bohol and Palawan islands. The police earlier foiled an attempt by Abu Sayyaf bandits in Bohol to kidnap tourists, just as the Philippines was holding a summit meeting of the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The two terror groups obviously want to stage their hideous kidnaping opera-

tions and sow terror in popular tourist spots to raise ransom money in the case of the Abu Sayyaf, and score a propaganda point in the case of ISIS. The US Embassy identified Palawan’s capital city of Puerto Princesa and the nearby underground river that lures thousands of visitors daily as areas the kidnappers were targeting.

Foreign tourists who have been flocking to Palawan

could be easy prey to these terror groups.

The police, as in other popular cities like Tokyo and Seoul in Asia and London and Paris in Europe, should expand their presence in local tourist spots to deter terror groups and other criminal elements from harming travelers and inflicting damage on Philippine tourism. Their presence should be a permanent fixture

round-the-clock along the popular beaches of Palawan, Bohol and Boracay islands and other famous tourist destinations.

Philippine tourism suffers when foreign countries issue a travel warning against their citizens. The Philippines also loses many economic opportunities from such adverse travel advisories, including jobs created by a single foreign tourist arriving here.

EVERYMAN

RP’s flag symbolizes unity

By Honor Blanco Cabie

contracts that prevent even such a simple matter as improving the physical train line. *** The utter failure of Duterte’s predecessor has often been traced, and rightly so, to the lack of empathy of the man on top. The “bahala kayo sa buhay niyo” attitude of Aquino, especially for the poor, doomed him in the eyes of the Filipino masses, who exacted their revenge on his chosen successor last year.

Duterte has tons of empathy, which he displayed yet again when he took the unprecedented action of going to the picket line of a bunch of displaced farmers at the foot of the Mendiola Bridge this week. But I fear he may be getting too distracted by the small but noisy minority of the remnants of Aquino’s oncevaunted following, who keep trying to throw roadblocks in his path.

Nobody asked me, but I sug-

LOS ANGELES—Filipinos across the United States have started preparing for May 28 when they will begin to display the Philippine flag for 16 days, displaying the country’s tricolors which has become part of a revered tradition and culture of the Philippines, a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual country of 106 million people.

The display will not be as widespread as it will be at home in the Philippines, but Filipinos in the United States, according to consular office sources in the West Coast, are certain to display in their residential windows the Philippine flag.

In Southern California, nearly 480,000 Filipinos (over one out of every four Filipino-Americans) make their home in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas, with the Los Angeles County holding the largest Filipino settlement in the United States, with more than 262,000 members of the group.

The Los Angeles-RiversideOrange County Metropolitan Area has over 370,000 Filipinos.

The city of Los Angeles alone contains well over 120,000 Filipinos, according to latest available figures.

There are also Filipinos in Daly City, in Vallejo, in San Francisco, Fontana in San Bernardino County in California, Dallas in Texas, Chicago in Illinois, Colorado and Hawaii, among other states.

The national flag, displayed with the blue field on top in times of peace, and with the red field on top in times of war, is a horizontal bicolor with equal bands of blue and red, and with a white equilateral triangle based at the hoist side.

In the center of the triangle is a golden yellow sun with eight primary rays, each containing three individual rays.

At every corner of the triangle is a five-pointed golden yellow star.

The flag is horizontally divided into two basic colors—royal blue and scarlet red—with a white equilateral triangle based at the hoist side.

At the center of the triangle is a golden-yellow sun with eight primary rays, each containing three individual rays, and at each corner of the triangle is a fivepointed golden-yellow star.

The flag’s length is twice its width, which translates into an aspect ratio of 1:2. The sides of the white triangle are equal to the width of the flag.

Each star is oriented such that it points towards the tip of the vertex at which it is located.

The flag’s colors are specified

by Republic Act 8491 in terms of

Turn to A5

Turn to A5

How time flies LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES AND just like that, it’s been a year since the election of President Rodrigo Duterte. Put another way, in five years, we shall elect his replacement.

What’s my point? Well, I’d like to see a sense of urgency from the Duterte administration, to light a fire under it so that it doesn’t get distracted from the work of uplifting the lives of the Filipinos who voted for the President in such great numbers last year.

For instance, I’d like to see the immediate start of work on much-needed public infrastructure that was never built in the six years of Noynoy Aquino.

The Duterte administration has promised a “golden age of infrastructure” and vowed to spend P8 trillion during the President’s term so we can catch up

with our neighbors in the Southeast Asian region—but I’ve yet to see actual spadework begun on any major new highway, train system, pier or airport.

I know that it’s been less than half a year since Duterte got approval for his first national budget, which is important because he intends to spend public money on his #BuildBuildBuild program. But if the funds intended to pay for the infrastructure projects are not immediately released to the agencies that will build them, then more time will be lost waiting for actual work to start.

And Duterte must know that you can’t build an airport, a highway or a pier just like that.

The studies required and the permits needed will already take up a lot of time that is not even going to be used for actual construction.

New roads, bridges and train systems in Metro Manila, for example, will ease the horrendous traffic jams that Duterte’s

predecessor tried to explain away as a welcome phenomenon because they were signs of economic development. And solving the traffic mess hap-

Duterte should not waste his time on the Yellows and their foreign confederates anymore.

pens to be one of the promises of Duterte.

The funding for all these projects is still up in the air, as well.

Congress has not acted with dispatch on the comprehensive

tax reform program proposed by the Duterte administration, which not only seeks to update our two-decade-old tax system but also to raise funds for the massive projects that the government wants to underwrite.

I know the Duterte administration has made a lot of headway in many problematic areas where only logic and common sense are required. For instance, Duterte was able to quickly end the scandalous laglag-bala racket at the airport by just confiscating the bullets found in passengers’ luggage and waving them off—a solution that apparently never occurred to the brilliant people of the previous administration.

But more complex stuff that requires immediate, focused attention still needs to be done.

The Land Transportation Office still cannot issue license plates or even plastic drivers’ licenses, because of the various court cases filed; the MRT is still hobbled by the onerous and strange

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Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Opinion FORMATION GARY OLIVAR

Post from Phnom Penh THE capital city of Cambodia is a sleepy little city whose dusty streets bake in the afternoon heat. It reminds me of some of our provincial cities—not even Cebu, or Davao, but smaller than them. Tuktuks dash around the streets, food stalls and outdoor cafes exude the fragrant smells of local cooking, and from time to time you’ll hear Buddhist chants echoing from ornate Buddhist temples.

Various reminders abound of the country’s dark past. A school called the “CIA First International School,” where I guess you might learn some unorthodox skills. An old hospital complex named after “Cambodia-Soviet Friendship.” And of course a couple of memorials to the “killing fields” of the seventies, according to the hotel’s city guidebook.

All this history doesn’t prepare you for the Sofitel hotel where we’re billeted, an immaculately modern establishment. Or, even less, for the Sukha hotel across the river, a sprawling structure with an enormous lobby and endless hallways, the site of this year’s World Economic Forum gathering on Asean. *** We’re here to cover this event because it will be graced by Duterte’s presence. Although the heads of state in attendance were limited to Indochina—Vietnam, Laos and the host countr y—he decided to show up as well, mainly as a show of support from this year’s Asean chair for the regional association’s newest members.

It’s interesting to see how much the President has grown into his position over the months.

From mayor of a largeish city in Mindanao, to dark-horse winner of the presidency, to emerging regional leader and influence broker being courted by the big powers— it’s been a whirlwind ride, and his first year in office isn’t even done yet.

As he shares the stage with the three Indochinese leaders, his expression is serious. When introduced, he alone stands up, then proffers his trademark little bow. As he gives his talk— the only one to do so in English, of course—out come the audience’s cellphone cameras, flashing away. And when he finishes, a large chunk of the audience drifts out of the hall.

It was him that these early departers came to see. And I don’t think he disappointed, even if he refrained from the colorful language he reserves for local audiences. He rattled off facts and numbers about Asean, a sign his speechwriters were on the ball.

And again he raised the issue of drugs, which is not just our problem but also one for the region, based on the PNP’s latest

intelligence about the involvement of three distinct ethnic groups: the Chinese meth manufacturers, the African distributors, and the Mexican-Siniloa cartel. ** * At another venue in the hotel, several members of Duterte’s cabinet held forth to the international press in attendance about his newly branded Dutertenomics philosophy of economic governance.

The infrastructure agencies gave a good accounting of themselves and the ambitious projects they’re planning: A pan-Luzon expressway that will cut travel time between La Union and Camarines Sur to twelve hours.

Upgrading Clark airport to become the country’s second premier gateway together with NAIA. Even digging up Manila’s streets to build the country’s first subway system, partnered by a newly aggressive Japan that’s feeling the Chinese breathing down their necks.

One question that wasn’t fully answered, though, came from a German reporter who asked about the effect of all that infrastructure spending on the country’s investment grade ratings.

The short answer: With economic growth spurred by new infrastructure, our debt to GDP ratios are likelier to go down, rather than up. With interest rates low, our peso strengthening, and all the hard currency being earned by our OFWs and BPO, we can borrow, at home, as much as we can in the foreseeable future.

But there’s one caveat to that: We’ve got to reform our tax system in order to raise the additional taxes needed to support all that new leverage.

Tax reform is no longer a matter for the Duterte bright boys.

It falls squarely in the laps of our honorable congressmen, with whom the tax reform bill is pending.

Unfortunately, we’re already hearing excuses about how Congress probably won’t be able to pass the law before they break up in May. This in turn is likely to push back tax reforms by up to a year, maybe all the way back to 2019.

And that in turn will delay all that infrastructure spending. Bottom line: A whole year of higher growth that may have to be given up because Congress can’t move as fast as they could and they should.

Will this in fact happen? That will depend on our people, especially our online warriors, and how fast they can click away at their keyboards to let the honorable congressmen know exactly what they think.

We’ve got to reform our tax system in order to raise the additional taxes needed to support all that new leverage.

RP’s...

From A4 their cable number in the system developed by the Color Association of the United States.

The Philippine flag, designed in 1897 by Emilio Aguinaldo while he was in exile in Hong Kong, is unique since it can indicate a state of war when the red field is displayed on top, or on the observer’s left when the flag is displayed vertically, with the white equilateral triangle at the top end.

According to official sources, the white triangle stands for equality and fraternity; the blue field for peace, truth, and justice; and the

How...

From A4

gest that Duterte not waste his time on the Yellows and their foreign confederates anymore.

He should realize that there is only so much time for him to fulfill his promises to a people still

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

PH awash with cash VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ THIS May, President Duterte has embarked on a four-country tour: his Cabinet members, a coterie of businessmen, and his HoneyLet and their youngest girl, in tow, to Cambodia, Hong Kong, China, and Russia.

Tourism aside, the trips have three ostensible purposes—to foster closer bilateral and multilateral relations, drum up foreign investments, and line up project financing, usually money of foreign governments disguised as official development assistance.

After nine months in office, Duterte has probably realized nothing concrete has happened on the economic front—in terms of economic reforms, new taxes approved, easier way of doing business (the local government units or LGUs are as corrupt as ever and they raise the cost of doing business), dramatic job generation, and even more dramatic poverty reduction.

Outside of Duterte’s controversial and high-profile war on drugs that has brought opprobrium for the Philippines for alleged human rights violations, and except for a sharp reduction in petty crime (although the police continue with their rackets and larceny), and a huge popular endorsement for the President (whose trust and job satisfaction ratings are in the high 70s)—little has happened for the man in the street to say his life is much better.

It still takes at least two months to get an appointment to apply for a passport. You

apply today, you get an August date. You still cannot get your plastic driver’s license and the overpriced medical eye exam remains a sham. You still cannot get your metal car plate. MRT3 still bogs down twice a day. You still cannot get to your place of work in less than two hours of commute, one way.

True, the economy expanded by 6.9 percent in 2016, among the highest growth rates in Asia, and probably by 7 percent in the first quarter 2017. But this robust growth is a credit primarily to the economy’s intrinsic strength and strong fundamentals than to any significant reform by the government or effort by the central bank.

It is not for lack of money that the government cannot institute drastic reforms and alleviate poverty. This government and this country are awash with cash. The economy is awash with cash.

Where is that money? To start with, the savings rate is 30 percent of the value of output of goods and services or GDP. GDP is P15 trillion. So 30 percent of that is P4.5 trillion. With that, we can finance the entire government’s operations for one year and still have P1 trillion of excess money.

We have $27 billion in annual OFW remittances. That’s P1.35 trillion. It can finance the entire government infrastructure program in 2019. The P1.35 trillion is 1.6x the infra budget of P847.2 billion this year. This P1.356 trillion is orphan money because nobody marshals it for productive purposes. The P1.35 trillion thus is marooned inside elegant malls and in forests of condos where a square meter is overpriced at least five times its

real value.

In addition, we earn $25 billion from our call centers and business process outsourcing (BPO). That’s another P1.25 trillion.

Moreover, right at the central bank, private banks have parked P3 trillion of private deposits— money the banks are too lazy or too afraid to lend (because the BSP is a much better borrower and you talk to only one guy). If the banks were to lend out the P3 trillion, they would have to employ entire bureaucracies—processing loan applications, interviewing loan applicants, visiting or assessing properties used as collateral, and holding so many meetings to approve the loans.

I once tried to borrow P3 million. I was interviewed by two teams of loan officers over coffee, with three people in each team from the same bank.

That’s six people. They told me knowing your client (KYC) is required by the central bank.

So to release P3 trillion loans to individuals, the banks will have employ one million additional loan officers. Why bother then. Go to the BSP, which is also too lazy or too afraid to pressure the banks to release the loans to the public. Besides, there are no more than 5,000 Filipinos who make P5-million income a year and are thus qualified to borrow big-ticket loans. And the banking system is owned by only five people. That is what you call financial inclusion—for the very rich only.

Additionally, the Philippines has $81.8 billion in foreign reserves—money that can pay for importations for a year. That’s another P4-trillion money.

So why do your bureaucrats

keep courting credit rating agencies to get an investment grade credit rating? We don’t need to borrow abroad. We don’t even need foreign investments.

We have so much money locally. So why does Duterte go around the world panhandling?

The Philippines is capital-surplus. In fact, the country has been exporting capital, rather than importing, in the past 10 consecutive years.

Duterte has appointed a new central bank governor, Nestor Espenilla, 58. He is an economist and a 36-year veteran at BSP. Our central bank is supposed to be among the world’s best. Outgoing BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. has been cited world’s best no less than eight times.

So again I ask this: If the Philippines is awash with so much money and our central bank is that good and (it is among the oldest central banks in Asia), how can you explain the fact that in Asean, with the possible exception of Indonesia, the Philippines has the highest inflation rate, the highest interest rates, the highest unemployment, the highest poverty incidence, and the lowest foreign investment inflow and the lowest ranking in Asean in Human Development Index or a measure of people’s well-being.

How come out of 1,500 towns, 600 towns do not have a bank branch? How come more than 60 million Filipinos do not have a bank account?

Amid so much liquidity (the techspeak for so much cash), how come 25 million Filipinos wallow in abject poverty?

Why, indeed? biznewsasia@gmail.com

After Comey, justice must be served IF PRESIDENT Donald Trump thinks he can fire his way out of the FBI’s investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia, he is sorely mistaken—and attempting to do so makes him look weak and fearful, undermines the rule of law, and diminishes what little prospects there were for bipartisan legislation. Given Democrats’ frequent attacks on Trump and FBI Director James Comey, only Republicans have the credibility needed to contain the damage and save Trump from himself. Now they must show they have the backbone to do it.

A memo from the Justice Department laying out the rationale for Trump’s firing of Comey mostly criticized his handling of last year’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email arrangement. The memo is not the issue. The issue is why Trump now claims to find it persuasive, when it merely rehashes arguments that have been swirling for nearly a year—and contradicts Trump’s effusive praise of Comey last fall, after he revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was reviewing more Clinton-related emails. After the election, and in the months since his inauguration, Trump gave no indication that he would fire him.

So what changed?

Well, Comey recently confirmed that the FBI was probing whether Trump’s associates had colluded with Russia in trying

to sway the election. Federal prosecutors have reportedly issued grand jury subpoenas in the case. Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified that European spy agencies had shared information about suspicious interactions between Trump’s campaign and Russian agents. And so on.

If there are in fact innocent explanations for all of the above, Trump has never come close to offering one. He insists, alternately, that the episode is “a total hoax,” “a total scam” or “FAKE NEWS.” The problem is that this supposedly fake news keeps having very real consequences. It led to the resignation of Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. It led to the ouster of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. It led to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Representative Devin Nunes both recusing themselves from investigations. It may have even been a factor in the firing of US Attorney Preet Bharara.

When an elected executive fires the lead investigator in the middle of a probe into his or her activities, the implications cannot be ignored. That is especially true when the decision appears to have been reverse-engineered, as seems to be the case here, with the White House recently directing the Justice Department to produce a memo providing a rationale for the firing.

To dump Comey for his handling of the Russia probe—which

Trump mentioned dismissively in his letter announcing the firing —would be a grave obstruction of justice. In any event, it is likely to obstruct whatever is left of Trump’s legislative agenda. Comprehensive tax reform just got an awful lot harder, as did nearly every other challenge facing the nation, both foreign and domestic: infrastructure, health care, immigration, trade and others.

Trump either has no advisers around him with the perspective and wisdom to talk him out of such an ill-fated and grossly incompetent decision—or was unwilling to listen to them. It’s hard to say which scenario is more troubling.

Comey was among the few senior members of the national-security apparatus with the independence and wherewithal to ensure the Russia investigation remained on track. Now he’s been fired, and Trump’s surrogates are insisting that there’s nothing more to say on the matter. It’s “time to move on,” said his spokeswoman.

Actually, it’s time for Congress to get serious about performing its constitutional duties.

It has two immediate responsibilities here. First, the Senate must insist that Trump replace Comey with an independent and experienced new director, one who will commit to completing any investigations into the president now under way. No cranks, cronies or close relatives. Encouragingly, several Republican senators, including Richard

Burr of North Carolina and Bob Corker of Tennessee, have indicated that they understand this.

They should also consider—as part of their constitutional role of providing advice and consent —sending Trump a short list of highly qualified and independent law enforcement leaders, and informing Trump that any nominee not from the list will be judged with utmost skepticism.

Next, Congress must appoint an independent commission to investigate Russia’s interference with the election and any role Trump or his associates played in it. Americans shouldn’t be left to wonder. Such a panel, modeled on the Sept. 11 Commission, should be empowered to access classified information, hold open hearings and air its findings publicly. With the FBI potentially coming under the control of a White House ally, this will only become more urgent.

Firing Comey without recognizing the obvious conflict-ofinterest inherent in the decision reflects Trump’s modus operandi: refusing to release his tax returns, refusing to sufficiently distance himself from his business interests, refusing to rein in family members who are profiting from the Trump name and connections.

When elected officials refuse to be bound by the ethical practices and norms that we have come to expect of them, it’s up to the public—and their representatives—to hold them accountable. This is only the beginning. Bloomberg

red field for patriotism and valor.

The eight primary rays of the sun represent the eight provinces which declared a state of war as soon as the first revolt was initiated in the 1896 Revolution of independence from Spain, and placed under martial law by the colonial government.

The eight provinces were Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Laguna, and Batangas.

The three stars represent the three major geographical divisions of this Southeast Asian archipelagothe: Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

Some have noted that the symbolism given in the 1898 Procla-

mation of Philippine Independence differs from the current official explanation.

One school of thought says the white triangle signifies the emblem of the Katipunan, the secret society that opposed Spanish rule which was ushered in by Fernando Magallanes in 1521 until the Spanish armada was beaten by the troops of US Admiral George Dewey in 1898.

Another school of thought says the flag’s colors celebrate the flag of the United States as a manifestation of Philippine gratitude for American protection against the Spanish during the Philippine Revolution.

Still another says that one of the

three stars represents the island of Panay, not the entire Visayan islands.

Historians say it has been common since the 1960s to trace the development of the Philippine flag to the various war standards of the individual leaders of the Katipunan, a pseudo-masonic revolutionary movement that opposed Spanish rule in the Philippines and led the Philippine Revolution.

But while some symbols common to the Katipunan flags would be adopted into the iconography of the Revolution, historians say it is inconclusive whether these war standards can be considered precursors to the present Philippine flag.

The first flag was sewn by

Marcela Marino de Agoncillo with the help of her daughter Lorenza and Delfina Herbosa de Natividad (a niece of reformist leader José Rizal).

Agoncillo’s remains are interred at the Dominican-run Sanctuario del Santo Cristo in San Juan City.

The flag, while it was displayed in battle on May 28, 1898, was formally unfurled during the proclamation of independence on June 12, 1898 in Kawit, Cavite.

However, Augusto de Viana, chief history researcher of the National Historical Institute, suggests in an article in the English language The Manila Times that the flag was first raised in Alapan, Imus, Cavite, on May 28, 1898.

He cites Presidential Proclamation No. 374, issued by then President Diosdado Macapagal on March 6, 1965.

The flag was first flown with the red field up on Feb. 4, 1899 to show that a state of war existed.

Aguinaldo was captured by the Americans two years later Palanan, Isabela, and swore allegiance to the United States.

The defeat of the Philippine Republic ushered in American colonial rule which made the display of the Philippine flag an illegal move by the Sedition Act of 1907.

smarting from being scammed for six years by Aquino, who loved nothing more than playing politics and pretending like he was always doing something really important when he did.

A year has already passed since the people gave Duterte his clear and unequivocal mandate. An overwhelming number

of them still adore and support him a year later, according to the opinion surveys.

But this should not lull Duterte and his men into complacency and a false sense of accomplishment. There’s still a lot of work to be done just to make up for the six years of nothing that Aquino gave to the Filipinos whom he

said were his “bosses.”

I know Duterte has the country’s best interests at heart and that he works like a dog to improve the lives of his beloved countrymen. What I’d like to see is him leveraging all of that broad-based support in order to deliver on the promises he made, perhaps by work-

ing smarter and by not getting distracted by the toxic politics practiced by his enemies here and the incessant carping of his critics abroad.

The last thing I want is for Duterte to fail, not because he didn’t work hard enough (he does) but because he expends his energies on things that do not redound to

the people’s good.

It took Duterte more than two decades to transform Davao from a violent southern backwater town into the thriving city that its residents are so justly proud of today. But he now has five years to do the same thing for the entire country—and the clock keeps ticking.

Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.

By Michael R. Bloomberg

Mr. Cabie is night editor for this newspaper. He is currently on travel.

News

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FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Ex-Caloocan mayor, two others face graft raps F

By Rio N. Araja

ORMER Caloocan City mayor Enrico Echiverri, along with two other ex-officials, is facing another graft case before the Sandiganbayan for the supposed anomalous P3.6million road project in 2012.

Also charged were ex-city accountant Edna Centeno and exbudget officer Jesusa Garcia for one count of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Centeno and Garcia were also slapped with one count of falsification of public documents.

The Office of the Ombudsman said the respondents gave "unwarranted benefits and advantage" through the award of a P3.6-million contract with Tuchar Construction for the concreting of

Cherry Blossom, Rose Stand and Ilang-ilang streets in Barangay 187, Caloocan City.

The transaction did not pass through the scrutiny of the city council.

According to the Ombudsman, Centeno and Garcia "feloniously" made false statements in the allot and obligation slips as to the existence of appropriation and obligation of allotment for the said project.

A P30,000 bail was recommended for each respondent in

the graft case for their temporary liberty.

Another bail of P12,000 for each accused in the falsification case was recommended.

The case is the eighth graft suit filed against the former Caloocan City mayor with the Sandiganbayan.

The seven other graft cases included alleged anomalous drainage and construction projects from 2011 to 2013.

Meanwhile, the Commission on Audit has held that former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and chief executive officer Efraim Genuino and other former board of directors culpable of disallowed donation of P2 million for a flood control project in a private village in 2010.

In a March 21 decision released just Wednesday, CoA's Commission Proper rejected Genuino's

plea pertaining to the notice of disallowance issued on Feb. 20, 2013 on the drainage system improvement project in Pleasantville Subdivision, Los Baños, Laguna.

Chairman Michael Aguinaldo, and Commissioners Jose Fabia and Isabel Agito junked Genuino's claims that the donation of agency funds was valid because the project was in a public property, and that it must be considered part of Pagcor’s corporate social responsibility program.

“The arguments are untenable.

The covered area by the donation is not a public property, nor is the donation for public purpose. The financial grant cannot be said to have promoted social justice to qualify under the broad interpretation of public purpose,” the commission's resolution read.

The financial assistance was granted to the Pleasant Village

Homeowners’ Association “for flood control and drainage system project” in an area bordered by Waling-waling, Sanggumay, Mariposa, Rosal and Jasmin streets all located within Pleasantville Subdivision.

According to the commission, the notice of disallowance issued by the supervising auditor of Pagcor was proper since the donation was spent on a private purpose.

The former Pagcor chief invoked good faith, but CoA junked his defense.

“As chairman of the BoD, he is expected to possess the legal knowledge in the requirements and implications of such financial assistance. Hence he remains solidarily liable for the disallowed amount,” CoA said.

CoA ruled with finality the disallowance of the project, saying it could no longer entertain a petition for review.

Binay gets nod to travel THE Sandiganbayan on Thursday gave the go-signal for former Vice President Jejomar Binay Sr. to travel to Israel for a pilgrimage from May 15 to May 29.

The decision came after the anti-graft court's Third Division conditionally arraigned Binay for graft charges for supposed overpriced construction of the P2.2-billion Makati City parking building.

It directed Binay to post a P725,000 as travel bond.

Former Makati City mayor Elenita Binay, who is accompanying her husband, has yet to receive the decision of the court if she would be allowed to travel to Israel.

Mrs. Binay was slapped with four counts of graft, nine counts of falsification of public documents and one count of malversation of public funds before the Sandiganbayan.

The charges stemmed from the contract award to Mana Architecture and Interior Design Co. for the design and construction of the city hall building 2. Rio N. Araja

MMDA: Brace for traffic gridlocks THE Metro Manila Development Authority on Thursday advised commuters and motorists to brace for traffic gridlock in some parts of Quezon City and Pasig City this weekend after it allowed the Department of Public Works and Highways to resume its reblocking operation and other road repairs.

In an advisory, the MMDA public information office announced that the DPWH will undertake road reblocking and repairs starting 11 p.m Friday (May 12) until May 15, at the following areas: Southbound: • Along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue before Dario Bridge, Quezon City (1st lane) • Along Circumferential Road -5 (C-5 Road) before Lanuza Avenue, Pasig City Northbound: • Along the 2nd lane of Mindanao Avenue between Old Sauyo Road to Mindanao Tunnel, Quezon City (2nd lane).

• Along Commonwealth Avenue between Litex Road to Doña Carmen, Quezon City (5th lane).

• Along Quirino Highway between Bernardino Street to T. Urbano, Quezon City (2nd lane) • Along Congressional Avenue Extension between Tandang Sora Avenue to Luzon Avenue, Quezon City (3rd lane) The MMDA assured the public that all affected roads will be fully passable by 5 a.m. Monday.

The government recently implemented a new policy prohibiting diggings and other road works at daytime in a bid to further ease traffic in Metro Manila.

The ban of road works at daytime came following the MMDA meeting with officials of the departments of Transportation, and Public Works and Highways to further improve the flow of traffic in the National Capital Region.

Under the policy, road repairs and rehabilitations on major thoroughfares must be done by contractors around 10 p.m. to make sure that the road will be passable to motorists by 5 a.m. the next day. Joel E. Zurbano

Garbage, silts collected in MM cities

WORKING THE SCENE. Investigators from Manila Police District Command measure the range of the blasts as they conduct a thorough investigation of the twin blast that rocked the Quiapo area in Manila recently. Norman Cruz

House to consolidate bills on workers’ rights CONGRESS has approved the creation of a technical working group that would consolidate two measures to protect minimum wage earners in the private sector by raising the fine imposed on employers violating the prescribed minimum wages.

The committee on labor and employment, headed by Cagayan Rep. Randolph Ting, will consolidate House Bill Nos. 5018 and 356 authored by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Diwa Rep. Emmeline Aglipay Villar, to ensure the employees's rights to their wages.

Alvarez's bill seeks to amend Presidential Decree 442 as amended, otherwise known as the Labor

IN BRIEF

Code of the Philippines, while Villar’s bill seeks to amend Section 12 of Republic Act 6727, otherwise known as the Wage Rationalization Act, as amended.

During a recent hearing, Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso and Baguio City Rep. Mark Go called on appropriate government agencies to monitor and enforce strict compliance by employers of labor laws, including the minimum wage law.

In response, National Labor Relations Commission Commissioner Isabel Ortiguerra assured the lawmakers the agency has been monitoring the employers’ compliance with judgments or decisions on cases about payment of correct wages.

Ortiguerra said the NLRC is holding reconciliation and mediation conferences to resolve labor and management disputes.

According to Deputy Executive Director Patricia Hornilla of the National Wages and Productivity Commission, their agency has inadequate manpower to fully monitor employers’ compliance with the minimum wage law.

He said that the NWPC’s labor laws compliance officers could only inspect 15 percent of the total 937,554 establishments nationwide annually.

Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin said that despite not being paid the right minimum wage, there are

workers who do not lodge complaints against their employers for fear of losing their jobs.

Alvarez filed HB 5018, saying the current penalties are not strong enough to completely stop the unjust and unreasonable conditions being suffered by labor workers.

“This bill seeks to increase the penalties so as to impose stricter guidelines for the employers. In doing so, this could serve as a deterrent to the non-compliance of payment of prescribed minimum wage rates by unjust employers,” he said.

Apart from wages, basic entitlements of employees also include, among others, the right to receive wage-related benefits through coverage

under the Social Security System, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund.

The Speaker’s HB 5018 seeks to amend Presidential Decree 442 to include a new Article 97-A titled “Social Security and Welfare Benefits,” providing that “Upon employment, every new employee shall be covered by the SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG, and other social security and welfare benefits.

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, all premium payments or contributions for such benefits of minimum of wage earners shall be shouldered by the employer.” Rio N. Araja

THE Metro Manila Development Authority has collected 750 truckloads of garbage and silt from various creeks and open canals in the metropolis during its waterways and estero cleanup operations since March.

Data from the agency’s Flood Control and Sewerage Management Office showed a total of 757 truckloads or 5,250 cubic meters of garbage and silt from several waterways in Metro Manila were collected from March 1 to May 6 this year.

The cleanup is being undertaken

by MMDA personnel under the Estero Blitz program, a yearly flood mitigation project in preparation for the rainy season.

To date, MMDA has cleaned and cleared eight waterways—Estero de Galina in Manila, Makati and Pasay; Libertad retarding pond in Pasay; Estero de San Miguel, Estero de Quiapo, Estero de Magdalena, Estero de Maypajo, and Estero dela Reina, all in Manila; and Lapu-Lapu/spine open canal in Malabon and Navotas. MMDA personnel are scheduled to declog refuse, slit and debris from Letre (P. Aquino) open canal in Malabon City from May 10 up to May 13.

The agency expects to clear the major waterways in Caloocan, Valenzuela, Quezon City, Pasig, Marikina, Taguig, Pateros, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa and Parañaque in the following months until October.

Among those scheduled for declogging and clearing from June to October will be Pasong Malapad Creek, Lagoon (tributary of Pasong Malapad Creek), Veinte Reales Creek, Waling-waling Creek (tributary creek of San Juan River), Tanque Creek, Villa Verde and Sta. Lucia Creeks, (tributaries of Tullahan River), Pinagkatdan Creek, Sto. Rosario – Silangan River, Maytunas Creek, Ermitano Creek, Estero Tripa de Gallina- Buendia Outfall, Sto. Nino Creek, Dahlig Creek, Pasong Diablo River, and the Coastal Open Canal. Joel E. Zurbano

Court to SSS: Vacate Pasay lot

FIRE REMAINS. Residents sift through the charred debris of their homes as they try to retrieve belongings and recyclable

materials after a fire engulfed homes in Barangay 197, Zone 20 at Sampaguita A and B, Riverside in Pasay City. Norman Cruz

THE Regional Trial Court in Pasay ruled that as part of its Transmission Development Plan, the National Grid Corporation’s 230-kiloVolt (kV) Substation project was built to strengthen grid facilities in Me t r o M a n i l a by p r o v id i ng long-term solution to increase demand for power and effectively distribute the existing load of transmission facilities serving Meralco.

This will also improve the grid's resiliency by providing N-1 contingency or back-up facility required to prevent outages when other equipment are not available or on scheduled maintenance shutdown.

The RTC decision di-

rected the Social Security System to vacate a portion of its property in Pasay City for NGCP’s power project.

“The proposed Pasay substation is a critical infrastructure project that will support the growth, development and energy security of the Western part of Metro Manila."

As transmission service provider and concessionaire for the power backbone, NGCP is expropriating on behalf of government.

“All transmission facilities we will be building during our concession are deemed for public use, and will eventually be turned over to government at the end of the concession period," the company explained.

NGCP is planning to construct on the said property a 230-kv substation project aimed at improving its present and future power quality and system reliability, serving the area and neighboring zones.

The project includes a provision to connect the Pasay Substation directly to a Substation in Bataan via a high-voltage submarine cable, making the property's location ideal.

It said that it will comply with orders of the courts including just compensation to SSS once it is determined, in accordance with the existing laws.

The property is located along Diokno Avenue in Pasay City.

Sports FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017

A7

ONE beats UFC in Asia T

HE Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is widely regarded as the premier organization in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. However, the landscape drastically changed when ONE Championship arrived in the scene nearly six years ago.

ONE Championship has taken the sport in Asia to new heights as it broadcasts to one billion homes in over 118 countries all around the world.

Since its humble beginnings in late 2011, ONE Championship has grown from a mere upstart with dreams of bringing MMA to the mainstream, into a sporting and entertainment powerhouse taking key Asian markets by storm.

The promotion, which is led by former ESPN Star Sports senior executive Victor Cui, has undoubtedly risen to greater heights in the past few years alongside achieving its goal of making MMA a household name.

“ONE Championship is popular because we built this organization with the Asian people in mind.

Asia is the birthplace of martial arts and we felt it was right to showcase all the local talent here to the rest of the world,” Cui said.

Aside from having the best and brightest MMA athletes from across the globe like Bibiano Fernandes, Ben Askren, Roger Gracie, Brandon Vera and Shinya Aoki, ONE Championship has also been pivotal in the development of local and homegrown MMA talents like the Philippines’ Eduard Folayang, Singapore’s Angela Lee and Myanmar’s Aung La N Sang.

The biggest local and global brands in the world have been attracted to the organization and a

number of key partnerships have formed over the years. The list includes Disney, Marvel, LG, Kawasaki, Panasonic, Haier, NagaWorld, Universal Music Group and Tune Talk, to name a few. The company’s ability to form deals that are mutually beneficial to all parties has been essential in its growth.

In 2016, a measure of ONE Championship’s rapid ascent was seen following the announcement of the promotion’s eight-figure investment from Heliconia, a subsidiary of Singapore’s financial giant Temasek.

Cui is of course a multinational himself, born and raised in Canada but with Filipino origins. He embodies both Eastern and Western cultures and is incidentally the perfect gentleman for the task of bringing the immense popularity of MMA over to Asia.

ONE Championship is on the cusp of greatness, having held successful shows in countries such as Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Indonesia, where MMA is not yet a staple.

In line with ONE Championship’s strategy of building local homegrown Asian martial arts heroes from the grassroots, the promotion is set to take advantage of venturing into new markets like Vietnam, Japan, and South Korea as well as multiple destinations in mainland China including Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing.

IOC: LA proposes ‘compelling’ plan LOS ANGELES—International Olympic Committee officials said Los Angeles had presented a “compelling” transportation plan for their 2024 Olympic bid on Wednesday as a crucial three-day evaluation visit got under way.

Patrick Baumann, the chairman of the IOC’s Evaluation Commission, appeared to have been impressed by details of Los Angeles 2024’s plans to ferry visitors around the metropolis recently ranked as the most gridlocked city in the world.

“The city and the planning authorities for transportation have a very compelling case for how the transportation will be implemented for the games time period,” Baumann told reporters after an opening day of discussions with the LA bid team.

“They’ve studied this extremely carefully. We all know this is a big city but they have a compelling plan that is in line with what is required for the host of an Olympic games.”

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti told reporters officials had shared details of what he described as the city’s “transportation revolution.”

This would involve $88 billion improvements and expansion to public transport infrastructure that was already under way and would be completed irrespective of whether Los Angeles wins the race to stage the Games.

“We feel very confident in our ability to deliver,” Garcetti said.

“We were able to deliver smooth rides in 1984 and we think it will be even better in 2024.”

The IOC delegation visit comes just four months ahead of a September 13 vote in Lima that will decide the race. The IOC Evaluation Commission will head to rival Paris next week.

The back-to-back visits of the only two cities in the running for the 2024 Games usher in what is expected to be a frenzied final spurt of campaigning. AFP

IBF honors local boxers

By Randy Caluag DAVAO CITY—International Boxing Federation (IBF) world lightflyweight Jerwin Ancajas led three other current top names in boxing who shared the Boxers of the Year award conferred by the Games and Amusement (GAB) on the first day (May 11) of the Philippine Boxing Convention at the Marco Polo Hotel here.

Ancajas successfully defended his title following a technical knockout win over Mexican challenger Jose Alfredo Rodriguez in January in Macau. The Panabo City native, who has a 26 wins (17KOs), 1 loss and 1 draw record, took the title via a unanimous verdict over McJoe Arrroyo in September last year.

Against Rodriguez, Ancajas was dominating the fight when the Mexican complained of shoulder injury and could not continue after the seventh round.

“I’m happy for Jerwin,” said his former handler Sammy Gelo-ani , who was at the convention which was attended by hundreds of stakeholders in the sport, including boxers, managers, promoters and ring officials from Cebu and the Luzon-based Association of Philippine Pro00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ fessional Boxing Ring Officials. (APPBRO).

Gelo-ani revealed that 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ Ancajas and his new handler, Joven Jimenez, paid him a courtesy visit. “KaDIGITS 00-00-00-00-00-00 hit umalis na sa akin si Jerwin, nakakataba naman DIGITS 00-00-00 ng puso na pinuntahan pa rin ako to pay respect.

Salamat naman and I reEZ2 00-00 ally wish him well.”

LOTTO RESULTS

6/49 6/42 6 3 2

Abarquez leads PPS

Riera U. Mallari, Editor Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor sports@thestandard.com.ph sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

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FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017

Sports Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas (4) drives to the basket against Washington Wizards defender Kelly Oubre, Jr. in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2017 NBA Playoffs on May 10 at the TD Garden in Boston.

CEBUANA’S Elsie Abarquez and JJ Gazo of Iloilo set out for a pair of victories in their respective sides as they banner the strong field in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Bohol leg regional age-group tennis tournament beginning today (Friday, May 12) at the Sto. Niño Tennis Club.

Abarquez, a silver medalist in doubles in the recent Palarong Pambansa, hopes to sustain her top form in the Group 2 tournament, bracing for a showdown with top La Carlota bets Tracy Llamas and Kiana de Asis for top honors in the girls’ 16- and 18-and-under classes of the five-day tournament hosted by Ubay, Bohol Mayor Costan Reyes.

Gazo, on the other hand, gains the top seeding in the boys’ 18-U side which also drew Rewel Justiniani, Troy Llamas and Paul Coderos. The top Ilonggo netter also sees action in the 16-U section headlined by Venz Alforque of Naga, Cebu, Troy Llamas, Justiniani, Coderos and Randy Labor.

Over 150 entries are participating in the event serving as part of the PPS-PEPP summer tour sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger with Ceasar Salimbangon, John Coderos, Mykk Lungay and Andrei Estember leading the boys’ 14-U cast and Mitch Largo and Rasheed Lucman headlining the 12-U division.

“We take pride in hosting the PPS-PEPP summer tour again, keeping our youth busy this summer and giving them the opportunity to enhance their respective games,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.

Fierce action is also seen in the 10-unisex category with Louchela Estember and Lucman looming as the players to beat while La Carlota’s Alexa Milliam, Lyra Repollo, JufeAnn Cocoy and Terrilou Gazo fancied in the girls’ 14-U section of the tournament backed

by Asiatraders Corp. and the new Unified tennis group, led by PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s and B-Meg.

Celtics rout Wizards, 123-101 W

ASHINGTON—The Boston Celtics continued their home court mastery over Washington, taking charge early and going on to beat the Wizards 123-101 Wednesday to grab a 3-2 lead in the second round series.

Avery Bradley tallied a postseason career high 29 points in the blowout as Boston can now advance to meet the Cleveland Cavaliers in the next round with a victory Friday in Washington.

“Everyone was prepared,” said

Bradley. “And that’s what it’s all about.”

The Celtics and Wizards have played nine times this year, and the home team has won all nine games. Boston has now won eight straight overall at the Boston Gar-

den over Washington.

The Celtics got on an early 16-0 run and never looked back. Their first quarter burst came after the Wizards scored the first four points of the game.

Bradley, who is playing with a sore hip, scored 25 points in the first half as the Celtics compiled a 22-point halftime lead.

“He put his injuries aside and laced his shoes up and played,” teammate Isaiah Thomas said of Bradley. “He was the key to this game at both ends of the floor.”

Bradley hit his last basket with

5:55 left in the third quarter and rested in the fourth.

Al Horford finished with 19 points and added seven assists and six rebounds for Boston.

Thomas and Jae Crowder both scored 18, Thomas with nine assists and Crowder with eight rebounds. Thomas scored eight consecutive points in the fourth with Bradley on the bench.

Thomas said the coaching staff did a good job of getting them ready for game five.

“We just wanted to impose our will,” said Thomas. “The coaches

kept saying that, ‘Impose your will.’ We were the more physical team tonight.

“We took what was on the whiteboard and we put it on the court.”

The Celtics went 16-for-33 from beyond the arc and became the sixth team in NBA history with at least 10 three pointers in six straight postseason.

John Wall led the Wizards with 21 points, and Bradley Beal had 16 and Otto Porter added 13.

The Wizard guards combined to go just 14 of 36 from the floor, two of seven from three-point range.

Gilas ready to give best

By Peter Atencio

THUNDER IN THE HOUSE. Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Canter waves to members of the House of Representatives after he was acknowledged during his visit. Ver Noveno

THE Gilas Pilipinas national men’s basketball team may not be 100 percent ready for the coming campaign in the 2017 Southeast Asian Basketball Association Championship.

But they are ready to give their best when action starts for them tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“We may not be 100 percent. But, we will make do with what he have, and do the best we can,” said Gilas coach Chot Reyes.

Reyes said the team finally became complete in practice following the arrival of naturalized player Andray Blatche last Sunday.

Gilas will get their campaign going when they first see action against Myanmar at 7 p.m. tonight.

Then, they clash with Singapore on Saturday, before facing Malaysia

on Sunday, and then taking a rest day on Monday.

The tournament will be Gilas’ stepping to a higher level of competition as it offers a lone ticket to the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup. The Philippines is considered a traditional favorite since it has dominated the tournament for many years.

Aside from Blatche, PBA superstars like June Mar Fajardo, Jayson Castro, Japeth Aguilar, and Calvin Abueva are expected to give Gilas the needed punch in their coming games.

Reyes and his coaching believes that their campaign this time won’t be easy.

Teams from Southeast Asian neighbors have improved.

Thailand and Indonesia are expected to field in naturalized players as well.

Aside from Blatche, American cager Jamarr Johnson is suiting up

for Indonesia.

Johnson is from New Jersey and stands 6-foot-5. He is said to have played for Widener University in Pennsylvania.

Johnson has won both the regular and playoff MVP honors in the Indonesian league, and that’s aside from Rookie of the Year honors.

Fans are also expected to watch out for Indonesian recruit Mario Wuysang, who saw action for the Fort Wayne Mastodons in the US NCAA Division II. On the other, Thailand won’t have a naturalized player in its roster as earlier expected.

They will be coached by British Tim Lewis. Even without players like Tyler Lamb or 6-foot-6 Moses Morgan, their players are still expected to give the Philippines a challenge.

Shooter Acuna wins first gold in international competition AMPARO “Ampao” Acuna emerged as the most bemedalled Filipino shooter in the Southeast Asian Shooting Association (SEASA) tournament in Subang, Malaysia which concluded yesterday Thursday.

She finished with a gold and two bronzes, and that’s after Acuna took the women’s 50-meter prone gold medal with the score 591.

Her rival, defending champion Thu Thu Kyaw of Myanmar made a 590 for the silver.

The bronze medal went to Mohd Taibi Nur Suryani of Malaysia(589).

This is her first gold medal in an international meet.

“I’m happy all the hard work paid off. I’ve been balancing my time between my studies and training these past months,” said

Acuna, a second year student at Miriam College.

Acuna settled for the 50 M 3-position women’s bronze, setting a new course qualifiying score Record (QSR) of 581, which better than the 580 she did back in 2014.

It is also considered a new Philippine record.

She finished ahead of Mohd Taibi Nur Suryani of Malaysia 581, who

Amer named Player of the Week IN just his second season as a pro, Baser Amer has showed the maturity of a veteran as evidenced by his latest performance last Wednesday.

The former San Beda star fired 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, to go along with 3 assists, leading the Bolts to an 81-66 thumping of Phoenix.

The win enhanced Meralco’s bid to clinch one of two twice-to-beat incentives heading to the playoffs.

Trained by PBA great Jimmy Alapag, now Meralco’s assistant coach, Amer has earned his first PBA All Star appearance this season after averaging career-best Stars line of 16.5 points, 5.12 rebounds and 4.25 assists in the 2017

Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup The 24-year-old Amer’s impressive showing earned him the Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week, beating the likes of Bolts teammate Chris Newsome, TNT’s Kelly Williams, Star guard Paul Lee, Mahindra’s Reden Celda, Ginebra guard Scottie Thompson, Blackwater’s Mike DiGregorio and Phoenix veteran RJ Jazul.

Amer was picked seventh overall by the Bolts in the 2015 PBA draft.

In his PBA debut on November 4, 2015, he went scoreless after missing all his four shots, adding just one assist and one board against two turnovers in 14 minutes of action.

In his third game with the Bolts,

he was thrust into the starting lineup, scoring nine points, grabbing rebounds and issuing six assists in 30:55 minutes of action, in a losing effort against Barako Bull on November 15, 2015.

Meralco (7 wins, 2 losses) is tied at third place with the Star Hotshots (72). Leading the standings are the San Miguel Beermen (5-1) and Barangay Ginebra (5-1). The other teams include TNT KaTropa (6-3), the Alaska Aces (4-3), the Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters (4-4) and the Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters (4-5).

Bringing up the rear are the GlobalPort Batang Pier (3-6), the Mahindra Floodbuster (2-7), the Blackwater Elite (2-7) and the NLEX Road Warriors (0-8).

claimed the silver.

Acuna earned the 10 m air rifle bronze.

On the other hand, Jayson Valdez ended his campaign with a gold Valdez ruled the 50 meter men’s rifle 3-position.

He tallied 448.1 points and beat his closest rivals from Vietnam.

It was the first gold medal that Valdez has won in SEASA

championships.

In other campaigns, he had silver and bronze finishes.

Jayson is the son of multi-titled SEA Games champion now national coach Julius Valdez, He went on to take the bronze in the 50-meter prone last Sunday.

Olympian Brian Rosario also added another bronze in the men’ Skeet. Peter Atencio

Meralco Bolts point guard Baser Amer (center) glides to the hoop past GlobalPort defender Mike Cortez while teammate Cliff Hodge (7) and GlobalPort big man Bradwyn Guinto look on.

“When you give a very good team transition points and breakaway points with nobody guarding you ... it’s going to be hard to keep up with them,” Washington coach Scott Brooks said. “We had no answers for those guys.

We’ve done a pretty good job on their best player, but not (a) good enough job on the other guys.”

If the Celtics win Friday, they would open against Cleveland on Monday. If the Boston-Washington series goes seven games, the winner meets the Cavaliers next Wednesday. AFP

Bouchard advances as Kerber retires MADRID, Spain—Canadian Eugenie Bouchard advanced at the Madrid Masters on Wednesday when top seed Angelique Kerber retired with a lower back injury trailing 6-3, 5-0 in their third-round match.

Kerber will take over the world number one ranking next Monday as a result of earlier Madrid results. The match lasted less than an hour.

Bouchard earlier claimed plenty of other players on the WTA Tour share her outspoken views on Maria Sharapova’s return from an 15-month doping ban, but are too “scared” to speak out.

Bouchard beat Sharapova for the first time in five meetings in the second round of the Madrid Open on Monday 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 a week after labelling the Russian “a cheater”.

The Canadian also claimed Sharapova should have been banned for life after testing positive for Meldonium at the 2015 Australian Open rather than welcomed back with a series of wildcards for big events.

“I definitely had some extra motivation going into today,” said Bouchard.

“I was actually quite inspired before the match because I had a lot of players coming up to me privately wishing me good luck.

“Players I don’t normally speak to, getting a lot of texts from people in the tennis world that were just rooting for me.

“I wanted to do it for myself, but also all these people.

“It showed me that most people have my opinion, and they were just maybe scared to speak out, but privately I’ve gotten a lot of support, so I was inspired and motivated to play.”

The two exchanged a frosty handshake at the end of a thrilling nearly three-hour long encounter as Bouchard registered just her second WTA Tour win since the Australian Open in January.

“She said: ‘Well played,’” Bouchard replied when asked what words were exchanged at the net. AFP

Megaworld’s profit grows 11% to P2.9b B2

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017

B1

Exports, imports surged in March

By Julito G. Rada

B

IN BRIEF

OTH exports and imports surged by more than a fifth in March amid strong domestic production and demand, the National Economic and Development Authority said Thursday.

Bangko Sentral keeps rates steady

THE Monetary Board, the policy-making body of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, on Thursday kept the benchmark interest rates steady, on manageable inflation and robust economic growth.

Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the interest rates were retained at 3 percent for overnight borrowing, 3.5 percent for overnight lending and 2.5 percent for overnight deposit. The reserve requirement ratios were also left unchanged.

“The board’s decision was based on its assessment of manageable inflation. Latest baseline forecasts continue to be within the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent for 2017 and 2018,” Tetangco said in a news briefing Thursday, his penultimate meeting before he retires on July 2 as Bangko Sentral governor and MB chairman.

The board maintained the average inflation forecast this year and next at 3.4 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Julito G. Rada

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed merchandise exports jumped 21 percent in March to $5.6 billion from $4.6 billion in the same month last year. This was also higher than $4.7-billion exports recorded in February.

Imports climbed 24 percent in March to a record $7.9 billion from $6.4 billion a year ago and $6.5 billion in February.

The total trade in March reached $13.5 billion, up by 21 percent from the same month in 2016.

“Philippine trade during the first quarter of this year has been robust, growing a solid 18.5 percent. We are really optimistic that we can sustain this momentum in the coming months,” Neda Undersecretary Rolando Tungpalan said in a statement.

Total trade in the first quarter reached $37.6 billion, up from $31.7 billion a year ago. Exports grew 18.3 percent in the three-month period to $15.5 billion, while imports increased 18.6 percent to $22 billion.

This widened the country’s trade deficit to $6.54 billion in the first quarter from $5.5 billion a year earlier.

Tungapalan said the export growth in March was led by the 16.5-percent growth in out-

Metrobank posted P5.6-b profit in Q1

METROPOLITAN Bank & Trust Co., the secondlargest lender in terms of assets, said Thursday net income in the first quarter jumped 6 percent to P5.6 billion from a year ago, sustaining the growth momentum in core businesses.

Total revenues hit P19.9 billion, while operating expenses grew 6 percent to P11.1 billion.

“Our first quarter results reflect our capability to consistently deliver quality earnings from our core business.

We are moving as planned in terms of diversifying revenues through sustained growth in net interest income and higher contributions from fee-related initiatives” Metrobank president Fabian Dee said in a statement.

Metrobank’s total deposits grew 16 percent yearon-year to reach P1.4 trillion, while loans climbed 26 percent to P1.1 trillion.

Metrobank ended the first quarter with consolidated assets of P1.9 trillion, and equity at P200.5 billion.

Julito G. Rada

Ayala launches 200-ha Evo City

AYALA Land Inc., one of the country’s leading integrated property developers, is set to launch a 200-hectare residential and business district developments in Kawit, Cavite called Evo City.

Alveo Land president Jennylle Tupaz said in a news briefing that Evo City would be developed as the next central business district in the south of Metro Manila, offering various components including offices, mall, residential condominiums, hospital and various institutions.

Phase 1 of the project involves a residential project called The Residences at Evo City.

The Residences will 760 residential lots which are expected to generate P7.4 billion in sales. Lot sizes ranging from 300 square meters to 450 sqm. will be sold at P30,000 per sqm. or between P9 million to P14 million per lot.

“The Residences at Evo City will offer the ideal living experience in the South. With the seamless synergy of all the Ayala brands involved, Evo City will become a prime CBD that will drive growth and progress in Cavite. This will be an estate that delivers complete work and living experiences in a well-masterplanned and sustainable environment,” Tupaz said.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Robinsons Bank to issue P3-b LTNCD

ROBINSONS Bank Corp., the banking and financial services arm of the Gokongwei Group, plans to issue its first long-term negotiable certificates of deposit amounting to at least P3 billion.

The board of the Bank approved the issuance which aims to support the expansion initiatives and diversification of funding sources.

The offer period is set on May 23 to June 2, 2017.

BPI Capital Corp. will act as the sole lead arranger for the offering.

The tenor of the LTNCDs will be five and one-half years with indicative pricing to be finalized and interest payments to be made every quarter in arrears. The minimum investment is P50, 000 with increments of P10, 000.

Robinsons Bank sees the LTNCDs as attractive alternative investment option for existing depositors, as well as opportunity to build relationship with future possible clients who are looking for higher interest rates versus the regular savings and time deposits.

LTNCDs are tax-exempt for qualified individuals if held for more than five years.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Thursday, May 11, 2017

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency

Unit

US Dollar Peso

United States Dollar

1.000000

49.9630

Japan

Yen

0.008751

0.4372

UK

Pound

1.294000

64.6521

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128434

6.4169

Switzerland

Franc

0.991277

49.5272

Canada

Dollar

0.732440

36.5949

Singapore

Dollar

0.709019

35.4247

Australia

Dollar

0.736300

36.7878

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652520

132.5279

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266645

13.3224

Brunei

Dollar

0.706514

35.2996

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0037

Thailand

Baht

0.028766

1.4372

UAE

Dirham

0.272287

13.6043

Euro

Euro

1.087000

54.3098

Korea

Won

0.000884

0.0442

China

Yuan

0.144902

7.2397

India

Rupee

0.230150

11.4990

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.694000

34.6743

New Zealand

Dollar

0.033066

1.6521

Taiwan

Dollar

0.033291

1.6623 Source: PDS Bridge

EVO CITY DEVELOPMENT. Alveo Land, a unit of property developer Ayala Land Inc., launches a new residential project in Evo City. Alveo Land is targeting P7.4 billion in sales from the new project. Evo City in Kawit, Cavite is envisioned to be the next central business district of the south. Shown are Alveo Land president Jenylle Tupaz (right) and vice president Rufino Gutierrez looking at the scale model of the Residences, Alveo’s residential project in Evo City. Manny Palmero

Eagle Cement’s P9.2-b IPO cleared

By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Philippine Stock Exchange approved the planned P9.2-billion initial public offering of Eagle Cement Corp., a cement manufacturer controlled by businessman Ramon Ang. The offering period for Eagle Cement’s IPO is set on May 16 to May 22 while listing will be on May 29.

Documents showed Eagle Cement would sell 500 million common shares, and another 75 million shares in case of strong demand, at P16 apiece.

Proceeds from the planned fund raising activity will be used to help fund a P12.5billion cement plant in Cebu.

The proposed plant will have capacity of 2 million metric tons, with construction scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2017 and completion expected by 2020.

ECC’s Cebu cement plant is set to raise the company’s production to 9.1 million metric tons per annum by 2020 to meet the market’s demand and solidify the company’s position as a leader in terms of production capacity. It will also allow ECC to mark its path in the Visayas and Mindanao cement market, together with the construction of strategic marine terminals.

Eagle Cement will have a public ownership of 10 percent and a market capitalization of P80 billion, after the IPO. It intends to debut on the main board of PSE on May 29 under the ticker symbol “EAGLE”.

The company hired SB Capital Inc., PNB Capital and Investments Corp. and China Bank Capital Corp. as the underwriters for the offering.

The PSE also approved the plan of developer Cebu Landmasters to sell 505 million shares for up to P6.56 apiece, with an over-

allotment option for another 75 million secondary shares to raise funds for expansion.

The float will be up to 33.84 percent of the company’s total outstanding shares after the IPO. It will have a market capitalization of up to P11.25 billion.

bound sales of manufactured goods, 33.6 percent increase in agro-based products and 94-percent rise in mineral exports.

March exports were supported by the sharp increase in receipts from Hong Kong (38.9 percent), China (38.9 percent), South Korea (7.3 percent), Taiwan (17.5 percent), US (20.4 percent), and EU (56.2 percent).

Meanwhile, higher purchases of capital goods, raw materials and intermediate goods, mineral fuels and lubricants and consumer goods supported the growth in imports in March.

Neda said the Philippines’ trade growth in March was faster than Indonesia’s 20.9 percent, Malaysia’s 20.4 percent, Vietnam’s 20.2 percent and Thailand’s 13.8 percent.

“These figures support our view that the Philippines will be the fastest-growing economy among the Asean-5 this year,” said Tungpalan.

He said this could be anchored on recovering external demand and strong domestic consumption and investment activities.

“We aim to follow-through by forging stronger connections with our Asean neighbors as merchandise trade with them comprises a substantial share of 21.9 percent of our country’s total trade in the first quarter,” Tungpalan said.

Manila

Standard

TODAY HEAD OFFICE: PBCom Tower, 6795 Ayala Avenue corner V.A. Rufino Street, 1226 Makati City Customer Care: (02) 777-2266 or 1-800-10-777-2266 (Domestic Toll Free)*Email: customercare@pbcom.com.ph*Website: www.pbcom.com.ph

BALANCE SHEET (Head Office and Branches)

BALANCE SHEET (Bank and Financial Subsidiaries)

As of March 31, 2017 As of December 31, 2016

As of March 31, 2017 As of December 31, 2016

ASSETS

ASSETS

Cash and Cash Items Due from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Due from Other Banks Financial Assets at Fair Value through Profit or Loss Available-for-Sale Financial Assets - Net Held-to-Maturity (HTM) Financial Assets - Net Unquoted Debt Securities Classified as Loans - Net Loans and Receivables - Net Interbank Loans Receivable Loans and Receivables - Others General Loan Loss Provision Other Financial Assets Equity Investment in Subsidiaries, Associates and Joint Ventures - Net Bank Premises, Furniture, Fixture & Equipment - Net Real and Other Properties Acquired - Net Other Assets - Net

P

839,237,328.57 12,413,695,532.29 2,428,162,761.36 1,311,139,813.21 44,452,432.50 13,502,683,292.24 3,550,373,136.14 40,792,018,274.37 50,160,000.00 41,142,041,327.69 400,183,053.32 449,330,272.13 964,912,765.81 1,835,627,892.14 510,268,234.86 6,065,762,115.25

P

1,010,466,593.55 13,276,675,252.42 2,877,264,209.62 300,166,595.21 44,452,432.50 13,531,709,424.94 3,672,552,632.89 39,546,226,419.16 49,720,000.00 39,883,189,472.48 386,683,053.32 551,647,500.91 961,313,774.25 1,878,997,674.85 496,136,145.17 6,089,690,869.79

TOTAL ASSETS

P 84,707,663,850.87

P

84,237,299,525.26 TOTAL ASSETS

61,188,817,002.68 10,099,383,950.05 10,099,383,950.05 447,145,103.17 2,260,940,019.61

Cash and Cash Items P 871,447,798.87 Due from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas 12,483,188,238.00 Due from Other Banks 2,729,839,687.81 Financial Assets at Fair Value through Profit or Loss 1,311,139,813.21 Available-for-Sale Financial Assets - Net 44,452,432.50 Held-to-Maturity (HTM) Financial Assets - Net 13,502,683,292.24 Unquoted Debt Securities Classified as Loans - Net 3,550,373,136.14 Loans and Receivables - Net 42,494,434,423.45 Interbank Loans Receivable 50,160,000.00 Loans and Receivables - Others 42,861,238,349.98 General Loan Loss Provision 416,963,926.53 Other Financial Assets 483,535,912.71 Equity Investment in Subsidiaries, Associates and Joint Ventures - Net 27,237,243.68 Bank Premises, Furniture, Fixture & Equipment - Net 1,945,625,646.19 Real and Other Properties Acquired - Net 574,218,034.10 Other Assets - Net 6,672,810,160.21 P 86,690,985,819.11

LIABILITIES P

2,022,247.55 61,644,673,525.08 9,917,472,563.36 9,917,472,563.36 6,400,321.05 704,609,751.46 2,154,134,674.95

P

TOTAL LIABILITIES

P 74,429,313,083.45

P

Financial Liabilities at Fair Value through Profit or Loss Deposit Liabilities Bills Payable: Other Deposit Substitutes Due to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Other Financial Liabilities Other Liabilities 73,996,286,075.51 TOTAL LIABILITIES

STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY P

TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

P 10,278,350,767.42

P

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

P 84,707,663,850.87

P

12,884,054,099.96 Capital Stock 1,541,317,192.51 Other Capital Accounts -4,184,357,842.72 Retained Earnings Minority Interest in Subsidiaries 10,241,013,449.75 TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY 84,237,299,525.26 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

CONTINGENT ACCOUNTS P 1,039,547,239.55 407,887,842.22 892,123,050.79 2,051,571,449.54 5,838,256,005.80 1,093,395,801.28 4,744,860,204.52 159,077,081.43

P

TOTAL CONTINGENT ACCOUNTS

P 10,388,462,669.33

P

2,222,647,854.71 395,133,364.11 1,241,237,877.47 1,377,819,320.77 5,683,734,099.96 1,089,636,831.45 4,594,097,268.51 184,739,553.67

2,022,247.55 63,555,479,572.15 9,917,472,563.36 9,917,472,563.36 6,400,321.05 727,875,616.71 2,258,501,367.11 P 76,467,751,687.93

P

63,149,978,349.58 10,099,383,950.05 10,099,383,950.05 464,530,594.20 2,364,548,902.28 76,078,441,796.11

P

P 12,883,805,224.89 1,489,021,659.22 -4,140,077,751.54 -9,515,001.39

P

12,884,054,099.96 1,579,287,593.51 -4,254,757,991.37 -9,746,712.85

P 10,223,234,131.18 P 86,690,985,819.11

P P

10,198,836,989.25 86,277,278,785.35

P 1,039,547,239.55 407,887,842.22 892,123,050.79 2,051,571,449.54 5,838,256,005.80 1,093,395,801.28 4,744,860,204.52 159,082,965.43

P

2,222,647,854.71 395,133,364.11 1,241,237,877.47 1,377,819,320.77 5,683,734,099.96 1,089,636,831.45 4,594,097,268.51 184,744,981.67

11,105,312,070.69 TOTAL CONTINGENT ACCOUNTS

P 10,388,468,553.33

P

11,105,317,498.69

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

42,941,852,188.24 1,749,650,860.55 2,279,691,946.18 5.31% 530,041,085.63

1.23% Classified Loans & Other Risk Assets, gross of allowance for credit losses 1,208,974,290.46 DOSRI Loans and receivables, gross allowance of credit losses 15,284,113.23 Ratio of DOSRI loans and receivables, gross of allowance for credit losses, to gross TLP (%) 0.04% Gross non-performing DOSRI loans and receivables 22,438.33 Ratio of gross non-performing DOSRI loans and receivables to TLP (%) 0.00% Percent Compliance with Magna Carta (%) 1.46%

b. 2% for Medium Enterprises 10.45% Return on Equity (ROE) (%) 1.87% Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) on Solo Basis, as prescribed under existing regulations

1/

P

Financial Standby Letters of Credit Commercial Letters of Credit Trade Related Guarantees Spot Foreign Exchange Contracts Trust Department Accounts Trust and Other Fiduciary Accounts Agency Accounts Others

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

a. Total CAR (%) b. Tier 1 CAR (%) c. Common Tier 1 Ratio (%) 1/

86,277,278,785.35

CONTINGENT ACCOUNTS

Financial Standby Letters of Credit Commercial Letters of Credit Trade Related Guarantees Spot Foreign Exchange Contracts Trust Department Accounts Trust and Other Fiduciary Accounts Agency Accounts Others

a. 8% for Micro and Small Enterprises

P

STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

P 12,884,054,099.96 1,475,694,061.21 -4,081,397,393.75

Gross total loan portfolio (TLP) Specific allowance for credit losses on the TLP Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) a. Gross NPLs b. Ratio of gross NPLs to gross TLP (%) c. Net NPLs d. Ratio of Net NPLs to gross TLP (%)

1,041,137,300.95 13,356,060,584.66 3,242,726,459.21 300,166,595.21 44,452,432.50 13,531,709,424.94 3,672,552,632.89 41,247,431,847.83 49,720,000.00 41,600,429,101.29 402,717,253.460 583,214,489.580 27,446,160.02 1,992,285,120.52 560,391,545.14 6,677,704,191.90

LIABILITIES

Financial Liabilities at Fair Value through Profit or Loss Deposit Liabilities Bills Payable: Other Deposit Substitutes Due to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Other Financial Liabilities Other Liabilities

Capital Stock Other Capital Accounts Retained Earnings

P

14.62%

11.48% 11.48%

Common Equity Tier 1 is only applicable to all Universal and Commercial Banks and their subsidiary banks.

41,705,821,743.45 1. List of Financial Allied Subsidiaries (excluding Subsidiary Insurance Companies) 1,772,912,270.97 1. Rural Bank of Nagcarlan, Inc. 2. Banco Dipolog, Inc. a Rural Bank 2,259,014,990.06 2. List of Subsidiary Insurance Companies 5.42% 1. PBCom Insurance Services Agency, Inc. 486,102,719.09 3. Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) on Consolidated Basis, as prescribed under existing regulations 1.17% a. Total CAR (%) 14.60% b. Tier 1 Ratio (%) 11.55% 1,065,744,487.21 c. Common Tier 1 Ratio (%) 1/ 11.55%

16,291,278.80 1/ Common Equity Tier 1 is only applicable to all Universal and Commercial Banks and their subsidiary banks.

14.67% 11.61% 11.61%

0.04% REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES) )S.S. 82,861.43 City of Makati 0.00% 1.69%

We, Arlene M. Datu and Patricia May T. Siy, of the above-mentioned bank do solemnly swear that all

11.96% matters set forth in the above balance sheet are true and correct to the best of our knowledge and belief.

0.78% 14.64%

11.51% 11.51%

(SGD.) ARLENE M. DATU Controller, SVP

(SGD.) PATRICIA MAY T. SIY President & CEO

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES) SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 27th day of April 2017 at City of Makati, affiants exhibiting City of Makati )S.S. their SSS nos. 0356633451 and 0373099955, respectively.

We, Arlene M. Datu and Patricia May T. Siy, of the above-mentioned bank do solemnly swear that all matters set forth in the above balance sheet are true and correct to the best of our knowledge and belief.

(SGD.) ATTY. GERVACIO B. ORTIZ JR. (SGD.) ARLENE M. DATU (SGD.) PATRICIA MAY T. SIY NOTARY PUBLIC City of Makati until December 31, 2018 Controller, SVP President & CEO IBP no. 656155 - Lifetime Member MCLE Compliance No. V-0006934 SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 27th day of April 2017 at City of Makati, affiants exhibiting their SSS nos. 0356633451 and 0373099955, respectively.

Doc. No. 432 Appointment no. M-104 -(2017-2018) Page No. 88 PTR no. 5909514 Jan. 3, 2017 (SGD.) ATTY. GERVACIO B. ORTIZ JR. Book No. XXII Makati City Roll no. 40091 NOTARY PUBLIC City of Makati until December 31, 2018 Series of 2017 101 Urban Ave., Campos Rueda Bldg. Brgy. Pio del Pilar, Makati City IBP no. 656155 - Lifetime Member MCLE Compliance No. V-0006934 Doc. No. 431 Appointment no. M-104 -(2017-2018) Page No. 88 PTR no. 5909514 Jan. 3, 2017 Book No. XXII Makati City Roll no. 40091 Series of 2017.

101 Urban Ave., Campos Rueda Bldg. Brgy. Pio del Pilar, Makati City Member: Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation Maximum Deposit Insurance for each Deposit P500,000.00

B2

Business

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market rebounds; Petron climbs Megaworld’s profit S grows 11% to P2.9b TOCKS rebounded Thursday, boosted by positive corporate earnings and following the gains in other Asian markets.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, rose 22 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 7,816.40, as four of the six major sectors advanced.

The heavier index, representing all shares, also gained 12 points, or 0.3 percent, to settle at 4,656.88, on a value turnover of P15.6 billion. Advancers outnumbered losers, 108 to 94, while 45 issues were unchanged.

Thirteen of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by oil refiner Petron Corp. which jumped 5 percent to P9.94 and Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp. which climbed 2.4

percent to P8.38. Property developer Ayala Land Inc. went up 2.1 percent to P39.40.

Food manufacturer Universal Robina Corp. fell 3.7 percent to P167.50, while sister company Robinsons Land Corp. tumbled 4.4 percent to P23.95, after the two units of JG Summit Holdings Inc. reported lower profits in the first quarter.

Robinsons Land said consolidated net income dropped 11 percent in the first quarter to P1.38 billion as real estate revenues decreased 2 percent to P4.9 billion. URC reported a 4.7-percent decline in first-quarter profit to P3.37 billion, as costs grew

faster than revenues.

Meanwhile, Asian markets rose Thursday with energy firms providing strong support after a surge in oil prices, while the dollar held gains against the yen as a top Federal Reserve official reinforced expectations for further interest rate hikes.

Both main crude contracts soared almost three percent Wednesday after data showed a drop in US inventories almost three times more than forecast, fanning hopes of a jump in demand as the American holiday driving season kicks off.

Traders have also been buoyed by hopes that Opec and Russia’s muchvaunted output cuts that started in January appear to be gaining traction, with the key producers also likely to extend the agreement past its end-June deadline.

All of which is welcome news for oil traders after last week’s plunge in prices that came on the back of worries about rising US, Nigeria and Libya output, and a slowdown in key market China.

“We saw the biggest draw in inventories for the year last week with stockpiles down more than five million barrels,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.

“And it looks like OPEC’s production cut is finally biting,” he added.

Among Asian energy firms Hong Kong-listed CNOOC jumped 1.8 percent and PetroChina climbed 1.3 percent, while Woodside Petroleum added 0.2 percent in Sydney as Santos gained 1.5 percent. Inpex added 0.8 percent in Tokyo.

With Bloomberg, AFP

By Jenniffer B. Austria MEGAWORLD Corp., the property arm of billionaire Andrew Tan, registered a net income of P2.9 billion in the first quarter, up 11 percent from P2.6 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Consolidated revenues, including those of subsidiary brands, rose 5 percent to P12 billion from P11.5 billion in the same period last year.

Megaworld said in a disclosure to the stock exchange residential revenues, mostly from its inventory of condominiums and villages across the country, remained steady and contin-

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017

NAME

OPEN

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 49.25 6,600 105.2 1,746,670 4.03 55,000 121.7 1,995,490 1.2 67,000 35.95 1,171,800 16.2 29,600 22.3 1,386,500 7.72 22,000 1.7 5,000 0.69 13,403,000 84.5 1,665,790 0.7 111,000 15.5 29,600 25 4,800 68 339,760 89 200 56.8 455,550 217.8 382,580 1,650 5 82.45 242,270 1.19 150,000

324,995 183,621,607 215,160 242,674,896 80,400 42,012,800 475,622 31,047,205 169,925 8,540 9,416,560 141,855,992 78,790 458,800 120,000 22,843,380.50 17,800 25,930,164.50 83,292,376 8,250 19,985,621.50 178,500

147,805 24,166,020 -8,000 80,585,195 -2,657,960 386,572.00 -2,559,850 35,400 -15,917,737 -217,000 1,420,165.50 6,662,114.50 29,769,600 -231,780 -

40 5.63 0.81 1.44 22 0.28 119.5 7.02 16.86 23 14.32 71 81.2 94.95 1.9 5.72 11.6 12.72 9.81 6.38 5.86 1.69 20.15 71.75 12.8 15.46 8.8 1.55 211.4 4.55 3.68 31 21.5 19.26 271 0.246 6.2 3.32 9.48 3.5 11.42 2.12 9.8 2.07 72 5.6 300 4.75 3 13.6 4.45 0.147 1.42 167 1.56 34.95 1.1

INDUSTRIAL 40.55 3,042,100 5.75 3,254,500 0.82 1,146,000 1.47 938,000 23 107,100 0.3 24,260,000 119.5 10 7.06 9,675,800 16.9 933,400 23.25 65,400 14.32 2,100 71 2,420 82 640 94.95 210 1.91 285,000 5.8 26,200 11.7 21,800 12.78 1,973,000 9.86 580,900 6.4 437,900 5.9 18,779,800 1.69 3,000 20.95 5,299,100 72.1 132,960 13.2 54,700 15.46 57,100 9.24 10,581,200 1.56 179,000 213 709,720 4.6 235,000 3.68 36,000 31.7 2,553,400 22.15 1,777,900 19.48 2,476,800 271 394,930 0.247 2,470,000 6.21 48,400 3.41 277,000 9.94 19,770,500 3.5 15,000 11.42 14,700 2.14 1,228,000 10.08 2,512,300 2.18 1,617,000 72.6 209,960 5.7 305,600 300 540 4.8 389,000 3.24 190,000 13.72 1,313,400 4.45 13,000 0.148 1,290,000 1.46 2,046,000 167.5 4,397,360 1.64 7,878,000 34.95 300 1.17 1,752,000

123,070,350 18,767,567 935,370 1,372,860 2,577,045 7,159,650 1,195 69,243,645 15,778,906 1,519,875 30,304 171,908.50 52,280 19,944.50 546,780 150,900 255,350 25,204,736 5,740,187 2,800,397 110,881,564 5,070 110,175,255 9,563,442.50 709,916 884,010 97,655,451 280,000 150,912,646 1,085,490 133,390 80,930,760 39,319,765 48,234,706 107,246,992 613,460 300,506 939,350 195,304,382 32 52,500 167,874 2,614,280 25,062,855 3,515,500 15,184,745.50 1,739,730 162,722 1,865,800 607,970 18,036,984 57,970 190,320 2,997,520 741,619,830 12,731,980 10,575 2,021,010

1,882,950 322,332 810 -12,050 -19,245,115 11,545,568 -139,781.50 9,417,488 271,058 -214,191 -16,425,467 24,783,410 -1,862,173.50 -381,080 11,197,605 9,360 19,652,178 -25,850,830 -9,340,805 5,504,276 -28,573,066 12,360 -278,820 ,827,154.0004 545,340 -2,048,272 -151,900 -1,800,322 678,200 -1,095,500 -121,620 3,107,236 4,482,181 -1,208,150 -

0.375 77 14.64 1.19 6.24 0.375 0.385 872 8.25 13.28 7.95 0.221 1,288 6.48 84 5.05 1.05 7.31 16.8 6.68 3.95 0.064 1.89 109.2 2.85 774 0.92 1.43 307.8 0.23 0.25

0.37 75.35 14.1 1.19 6.2 0.355 0.355 855 8.16 13.14 7.9 0.203 1,245 6.48 81.6 5 1.01 7.25 16.58 6.53 3.22 0.061 1.88 107.2 2.7 762 0.9 1.42 304.8 0.217 0.25

HOLDING FIRMS 0.37 410,000 76.3 2,252,870 14.14 17,148,200 1.19 15,000 6.24 40,000 0.355 19,560,000 0.37 2,690,000 868 287,900 8.18 1,013,200 13.16 11,661,800 7.95 7,700 0.211 1,590,000 1,254 264,470 6.48 2,700 83.5 3,822,750 5.05 22,000 1.01 1,711,000 7.3 11,083,700 16.58 7,163,200 6.57 15,467,200 3.22 42,000 0.062 108,710,000 1.88 1,114,000 109.2 193,440 2.85 8,000 773 360,520 0.92 160,000 1.42 12,000 307.8 1,470 0.223 880,000 0.25 50,000

152,300 171,254,118 245,757,374 17,850 248,060 7,085,800 976,850 249,819,185 8,295,149 153,616,334 61,003 341,710 333,260,165 17,496 319,154,619 111,000 1,752,210 80,710,401 119,608,150 101,860,999 146,850 6,817,070 2,101,060 20,942,981 22,630 278,260,195 146,850 17,060 451,234 196,700 12,500

2,945,900 -37,997,912 -1,517,960 4,407,697 72,562,986 40,390 47,365,810 123,124,277.50 106,139 -85,946,038 17,449,851 56,000 -3,130 -5,640 3,599,580 95,594,350 -73,800 -11,150 -

6.8 1.26 2.25 1.48 39.9 4.23 5.38 0.51 1.05 1.47 0.162 0.53 52 0.71 0.177 1.75 1.08 1.12 4.27 0.405 0.42 0.81 4.61 25.1 1.71 3.32 32.4

6.78 1.15 2.24 1.39 38.35 4.18 5.3 0.5 1.04 1.41 0.16 0.52 51.25 0.7 0.166 1.69 1.02 1.06 4.15 0.37 0.385 0.73 4.25 23.8 1.7 3.31 31.75

PROPERTY 6.79 764,100 1.15 17,497,000 2.24 190,000 1.4 9,910,000 39.4 24,586,800 4.21 3,968,000 5.3 120,300 0.51 4,264,000 1.04 9,000 1.46 153,000 0.162 3,340,000 0.53 1,556,000 52 4,819,360 0.7 1,140,000 0.172 1,760,000 1.7 9,436,000 1.03 20,147,000 1.09 5,209,000 4.18 43,298,000 0.37 298,780,000 0.39 8,540,000 0.81 73,515,000 4.25 1,902,000 23.95 6,667,200 1.7 41,000 3.32 3,000 32.15 11,883,700

5,187,602 20,748,180 426,090 14,088,880 968,889,525 16,684,730 637,861 2,133,470 9,400 220,020 536,410 822,760 247,152,465.50 798,440 299,370 16,112,370 21,122,430 5,698,830 182,152,260 115,542,700 3,436,700 56,475,670 8,283,050 161,351,825 69,810 9,950 380,998,775

-1,870,221 -734,450 51,990 537,623,370 3,660 -601,679 -325,000 232,900 1,641,798.50 -757,060 -14,133,380 162,990 15,540 10,100,440 -483,450 32,850 -12,080 8,375,155 34,655,175

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

ASIA UNITED 49.25 BANK PH ISLANDS 105 BDO LEASING 4 BDO UNIBANK 120 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.2 CHINABANK 35.9 COL FINANCIAL 16.2 EAST WEST BANK 22.45 FILIPINO FUND 7.73 IREMIT 1.72 MEDCO HLDG 0.74 METROBANK 86.55 NTL REINSURANCE 0.71 PB BANK 15.5 PBCOM 25 PHIL NATL BANK 67.6 PSBANK 89 RCBC 57.2 SECURITY BANK 216.4 SUN LIFE 1,650 UNION BANK 82.5 VANTAGE 1.19

49.25 105.8 4.03 121.8 1.2 35.95 16.2 22.75 7.73 1.72 0.74 87.05 0.71 15.5 25 68 89 57.35 220 1,650 82.7 1.19

49 104.9 3.85 120 1.2 35.7 16.04 22 7.72 1.7 0.69 84.3 0.7 15.5 25 65 89 55.5 216.2 1,650 82.1 1.19

ABOITIZ POWER 40.1 AGRINURTURE 5.63 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.85 ALSONS CONS 1.44 ASIABEST GROUP 24 BASIC ENERGY 0.29 BOGO MEDELLIN 119.5 CEMEX HLDG 7.02 CENTURY FOOD 17 CIRTEK HLDG 23 CNTRL AZUCARERA14.9 CONCEPCION 73.95 CONCRETE A 82 CONCRETE B 95.45 CROWN ASIA 1.93 DAVINCI CAPITAL 5.74 DEL MONTE 11.8 DNL INDUS 12.84 EEI CORP 9.81 EMPERADOR 6.38 ENERGY DEVT 5.9 EUROMED 1.69 FIRST GEN 20.15 FIRST PHIL HLDG 71.95 GINEBRA 12.8 HOLCIM 15.5 INTEGRATED MICR 8.8 IONICS 1.59 JOLLIBEE 212 LMG CHEMICALS 4.65 MABUHAY VINYL 3.7 MANILA WATER 31.1 MAXS GROUP 22.1 MEGAWIDE 19.5 MERALCO 271 MG HLDG 0.25 PANASONIC 6.3 PEPSI COLA 3.49 PETRON 9.48 PHIL H2O 3.5 PHINMA 11.42 PHINMA ENERGY 2.13 PHX PETROLEUM 9.91 PHX SEMICNDCTR 2.07 PILIPINAS SHELL 73 PRYCE CORP 5.61 PUREFOODS 301 RFM CORP 4.8 ROXAS HLDG 3.15 SHAKEYS PIZZA 13.84 SPC POWER 4.49 SWIFT FOODS 0.148 TKC METALS 1.42 UNIV ROBINA 170 VITARICH 1.56 VIVANT 35.85 VULCAN INDL 1.11

40.8 5.88 0.85 1.47 25 0.3 119.5 7.24 17 23.25 14.9 73.95 82 95.45 1.95 5.8 11.8 12.86 9.99 6.44 5.95 1.69 20.95 72.1 13.2 15.5 9.44 1.6 214 4.68 3.75 32 22.6 19.54 272.6 0.25 6.3 3.49 10.08 3.5 11.42 2.14 10.08 2.21 73 5.7 302 4.8 3.24 13.96 4.49 0.148 1.49 170.2 1.64 35.85 1.17

ABACORE CAPITAL 0.375 ABOITIZ EQUITY 75.5 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 14.4 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 1.19 ANSCOR 6.2 ATN HLDG A 0.37 ATN HLDG B 0.385 AYALA CORP 860 COSCO CAPITAL 8.25 DMCI HLDG 13.16 FILINVEST DEV 7.95 FORUM PACIFIC 0.203 GT CAPITAL 1,268 HOUSE OF INV 6.48 JG SUMMIT 84 KEPPEL HLDG A 5 LODESTAR 1.04 LOPEZ HLDG 7.28 LT GROUP 16.66 METRO PAC INV 6.59 MJC INVESTMENTS 3.95 PACIFICA 0.062 PRIME ORION 1.88 SAN MIGUEL CORP 108 SEAFRONT RES 2.7 SM INVESTMENTS 762 SOC RESOURCES 0.9 SOLID GROUP 1.42 TOP FRONTIER 305 WELLEX INDUS 0.218 ZEUS HLDG 0.25 8990 HLDG A BROWN ARANETA PROP ARTHALAND CORP AYALA LAND BELLE CORP CEBU HLDG CENTURY PROP CITY AND LAND CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON EMPIRE EAST EVER GOTESCO FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE IRC PROP MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG

6.8 1.21 2.25 1.46 38.6 4.19 5.38 0.5 1.05 1.41 0.161 0.53 51.25 0.71 0.166 1.72 1.07 1.06 4.21 0.4 0.385 0.77 4.61 25 1.71 3.31 32

VOLUME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

0.99 7.45 0.9 5.2

1.01 7.45 0.91 5.2

0.99 7 0.89 5.11

1 7 0.89 5.2

4,852,000 200 325,000 4,952,100

4,855,880 1,445 290,800 25,662,416

40,500 -14,449,094

2GO GROUP 16.42 ABS CBN 44 ACESITE HOTEL 1.59 APC GROUP 0.52 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.048 ASIAN TERMINALS 12.3 BLOOMBERRY 9.95 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.088 CALATA CORP 1.97 CEBU AIR 100 CENTRO ESCOLAR 9.99 DFNN INC 8.65 EASYCALL 3.54 GLOBE TELECOM 2,058 GMA NETWORK 6.15 GOLDEN HAVEN 16.12 GRAND PLAZA 13.14 HARBOR STAR 2.93 IMPERIAL 3.6 INTL CONTAINER 93 IPEOPLE 12.2 IPM HLDG 8.95 ISLAND INFO 0.188 ISM COMM 1.38 JACKSTONES 3.59 LBC EXPRESS 16 LEISURE AND RES 4.36 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.98 MACROASIA 3.88 MANILA JOCKEY 2.5 MELCO CROWN 8.18 METRO RETAIL 3.6 MLA BRDCASTING 16.7 NOW CORP 2.66 PACIFIC ONLINE 11.9 PAL HLDG 5.31 PAXYS 2.98 PHIL SEVEN CORP 175 PHILWEB 7 PLDT 1,765 PREMIUM LEISURE 1.51 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.405 PUREGOLD 43.6 ROBINSONS RTL 77.75 SBS PHIL CORP 5.89 SSI GROUP 2.45 STI HLDG 1.14 TRANSPACIFIC BR 2.15 TRAVELLERS 3.71 WATERFRONT 0.67 WILCON DEPOT 5.38

17 44 1.74 0.52 0.049 12.3 10 0.091 2.04 103 9.99 8.93 3.54 2,096 6.19 16.38 13.14 3.08 3.68 94 12.64 9 0.188 1.43 3.69 16 4.36 0.98 4.17 2.58 8.58 3.73 16.7 2.7 12 5.45 2.98 175 7.24 1,770 1.57 0.415 43.6 77.75 5.94 2.46 1.14 2.15 3.79 0.75 5.42

15.8 43.9 1.58 0.51 0.048 12 9.9 0.087 1.96 97.7 9.99 8.65 3.54 2,030 6.12 16.1 13.12 2.9 3.6 92.75 12.04 8.95 0.183 1.36 3.5 15.5 4.19 0.98 3.88 2.45 8.18 3.6 16.7 2.65 11.9 5.31 2.98 175 7 1,722 1.51 0.405 42.5 76 5.88 2.37 1.11 2.05 3.67 0.66 5.34

SERVICES 16.5 766,800 44 24,300 1.65 70,000 0.52 1,945,000 0.048 138,600,000 12 2,000 9.97 15,478,800 0.089 35,490,000 2 4,441,000 103 307,400 9.99 500 8.89 22,100 3.54 2,000 2,054 91,095 6.12 89,900 16.38 48,100 13.14 1,100 3.05 2,791,000 3.6 63,000 93.65 3,339,490 12.64 362,200 9 317,000 0.185 3,760,000 1.4 251,000 3.52 236,000 16 18,000 4.2 748,000 0.98 30,000 4 2,330,000 2.58 177,000 8.38 35,347,500 3.69 4,046,000 16.7 100 2.65 1,552,000 11.92 41,300 5.35 18,700 2.98 23,000 175 252,110 7.06 333,300 1,722 155,015 1.57 6,786,000 0.41 800,000 42.55 2,931,100 76.6 145,270 5.89 9,700 2.42 6,325,000 1.11 4,856,000 2.05 107,000 3.69 4,298,000 0.74 49,171,000 5.4 9,395,800

12,453,414 1,067,630 115,810 997,850 6,661,900 24,150 154,465,473 3,165,300 8,911,640 31,096,567 4,995 196,065 7,080 187,905,040 552,289 783,618 14,444 8,357,790 227,550 312,182,078 ( 4,423,352 2,839,580 689,370 347,030 843,490 287,910 3,159,760 29,400 9,385,870 444,060 293,680,059 14,935,120 1,670 4,134,190 493,202 100,511 68,540 44,119,250 2,357,320 269,243,495 10,524,700 327,200 126,270,365 11,142,582.50 57,078 15,317,710 5,461,920 220,050 15,923,190 35,367,690 50,663,960

-1,943,094 -406,800 -48,000 25,832,742 5,280 208,710.00 7,336,690 60,743,450 27,450 75,569,735.5) 131,456 3,720 -36,800 4,250 1,090,200 4,886,129 -6,145,400 1,190 8,940 325,500 -33,535,475 5,051,780 12,498,510 -4,490,752 -3,506,230 -542,230 205,000.00 -1,453,730 442,080 27,171,662

ABRA MINING APEX MINING ATLAS MINING ATOK BENGUET A CENTURY PEAK COAL ASIA HLDG DIZON MINES FERRONICKEL GEOGRACE LEPANTO A LEPANTO B MANILA MINING A MARCVENTURES NICKEL ASIA NIHAO OMICO CORP ORNTL PENINSULA ORNTL PETROL A ORNTL PETROL B PETROENERGY PHILODRILL PX MINING PXP ENERGY SEMIRARA MINING TA PETROLEUM UNITED PARAGON

0.0034 1.85 5.08 13.48 2 1.01 0.42 9.01 2.5 0.26 0.196 0.194 0.012 1.86 6.01 2.25 0.465 0.9 0.01 0.012 4.05 0.012 8.82 3.12 162 2.65 0.0098

0.0034 1.93 5.18 13.48 2 1.02 0.43 9.01 2.57 0.265 0.196 0.2 0.012 1.9 6.08 2.25 0.465 0.93 0.011 0.013 4.05 0.015 8.89 3.25 164 2.65 0.011

0.0033 1.8 5.08 13.48 1.95 0.9 0.42 8.66 2.49 0.26 0.19 0.194 0.011 1.8 5.97 2.15 0.465 0.9 0.01 0.012 4.05 0.012 8.8 3.11 161.9 2.55 0.0097

MINING & OIL 0.0034 91,000,000 1.91 6,524,000 5.1 45,700 13.48 100 1.95 51,000 0.9 10,094,000 0.43 30,000 8.81 6,300 2.57 7,267,000 0.265 30,000 0.19 4,080,000 0.2 70,000 0.012 600,000 1.89 673,000 6 11,585,300 2.22 17,000 0.465 56,000 0.91 176,000 0.011 27,100,000 0.012 97,700,000 4.05 10,000 0.013 2,015,000,000 8.86 13,088,300 3.15 1,672,000 162.3 1,311,520 2.65 226,000 0.0097 47,000,000

306,500 12,229,050 232,930 1,348 99,500 9,502,580 12,700 56,497 18,400,720 7,850 786,450 13,650 7,000 1,222,930 69,515,175 36,840 26,040 160,910 281,200 1,219,400 40,500 26,332,400 115,461,635 5,296,060 213,122,606 585,840 489,200

6,800 -37,400 -19,893 -99,900 -119,400 2,600 -1,023,570 -33,587,583 89,200 3,029,869 -508,930 -42,181,887 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 ALCO PREF B DD PREF FGEN PREF F GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B LR PREF MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2A PF PREF 2 PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SFI PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

44 520 107.3 105 112.5 5.83 1,016 1,025 1.09 108 1,028 1,019 106 110.3 2.1 77.4 81 76.2 78.1 80.05 79 78.7 78.4

44 520 107.3 105 112.5 6.02 1,016 1,025 1.09 108 1,028 1,020 106 118.9 2.1 77.4 81 76.2 78.1 80.05 79 78.7 78.4

43.8 519 107 105 112.5 5.83 1,015 1,025 1.09 107 1,028 1,019 106 110.3 2.1 77.4 80.3 76.05 78.1 80 79 78.7 78.4

PREFERRED 44 8,400 519 970 107 69,320 105 1,000 112.5 7,690 6 1,589,500 1,015 10,000 1,025 18,230 1.09 206,000 107 15,700 1,028 60 1,019 2,850 106 250 118.9 11,910 2.1 1,000 77.4 330 80.3 27,650 76.05 19,390 78.1 3,300 80 135,630 79 1,540 78.7 54,200 78.4 3,370

369,200 504,280 7,427,146 105,000 865,125 9,467,299 10,150,050 18,685,750 224,540 1,680,600 61,680 2,904,950 26,500 1,313,759 2,100 25,542 2,221,855 1,476,657 257,730 10,850,450 121,660 4,265,540 264,208

-210,880 4,451,276 7,811,497 50,800 -1,605,000 80,050 -

LR WARRANT

2.3

2.33

2.16

WARRANTS 2.2 945,000

2,092,900

-

ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

4.9 6.45 8.2

5 6.52 8.44

4.63 6.4 8.13

SME 4.65 6.41 8.14

6,437,640 706,784 45,460,677

22,100 -1,197,242

130.1

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 129.3 129.9 7,360

955,597

-35,100

NAME STA LUCIA LAND STARMALLS SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

MS FIRST METRO ETF 130.1

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

69,898,419

INDUSTRIAL

138,008,080

HOLDING FIRMS

208,665,713

PROPERTY

570,466,012

SERVICES

593,878,697

MINING & OIL

2,335,941,734

GRAND TOTAL

3,923,798,215

1,326,000 110,100 5,496,000

VALUE 1,910.31 (UP) 4.06 5,463,633,244.40 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,201.14 (DOWN) 32.30 2,101,269,263.908 HOLDING FIRMS 7,917.89 (UP) 55.41 2,233,484,417.47 PROPERTY 3,558.46 (UP) 25.18 SERVICES 1,625.15 (DOWN) 12.16 2,527,603,384.31 MINING & OIL 12,680.54 (UP) 44.21 2,732,719,878.751 PSEI 7,816.40 (UP) 22.23 475,474,776.3666 All Shares Index 4,656.88 (UP) 12.93 15,587,746,270.54 Gainers: 108; Losers: 94; Unchanged: 45; Total: 247

ued to contribute around 70 percent to revenue pie.

Rental income expanded to a record P2.9 billion in January to March, up 26 percent from last year’s P2.3-billion.

Recurring income, which comes from office and commercial and mall rentals, contributed around 24 percent of the quarterly revenues.

Hotel revenues grew 23 percent in the first quarter to P335 million from P271 million in the same period last year as the company expanded its homegrown hotel brands, Richmonde and Belmont, in Iloilo City and Pasay City, respectively.

“Our long-term goal is to strengthen our recurring income base while we maintain our leadership in residential developments. We already have a solid landbanking in place. All we have to do is to maximize the use of these lands to further expand our presence especially in key growth areas in the provinces,” Megaworld treasurer Francis Canuto said.

The property group is set to launch 20 residential projects in various existing township developments in 2017. These projects are expected to generate sales of around P31.2 billion.

“We are also very keen about prospects for tourism. This is a big opportunity for us. We hope to support the government’s tourism programs by building more tourism-related developments such as hotels,” said Canuto.

Ayala earned P6.9b in Q1 CONGLOMERATE Ayala Corp. said Thursday net income expanded 20 percent in the first quarter to P6.9 billion from a year ago, driven by the robust results of banking and real estate businesses and solid earnings from emerging business in power and industrial technologies.

Equity earnings from its businesses climbed 18 percent year-on-year to P8.5 billion, led by contributions from Bank of the Philippine Islands and Ayala Land Inc., which expanded 27 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

Ayala’s emerging business posted higher equity earnings, particularly AC Energy and AC Industrials, which grew 26 percent and 22 percent, respectively.

The conglomerate said on a quarter-on-quarter basis, net income climbed 9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016 on the back of the robust performance of its banking businesses.

“We are pleased to see our businesses sustain their positive performance in the first quarter. As a group, we continue to search for value-accretive opportunities not only to create new sources of a financial growth, but also to remain relevant to our stakeholders.

As our emerging businesses maintain their growth trajectories, we are encouraged by the progress of our emerging businesses. In particular, our power, infrastructure, and industrial technologies units are pursuing strategic opportunities to scale up and over time bring significant value to our portfolio,” Ayala president and chief operating officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala said.

Ayala Corp. is the holding company of one of the oldest and largest business groups in the Philippines. The group has established leadership positions in real estate, financial services, telecommunications, water infrastructure, electronics manufacturing, and automotive distributorship and dealership.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Motoring Text and photos by Dino Ray V. Directo III

A

ston Martin Manila pulled off one from under the rug of its competitors with the recent launch of its flagship Super GT, the Vanquish S. Held at the fashionable district of Rockwell in Makati City, Aston Martin’s ultimate GT sports car is expected to spark the competitive spirit of super car distributors in the highly competitive domestic niche market.

“I am pleased to officially introduce the new Vanquish S, and we very much look forward to see the new flagship Aston Martin being driven on the streets of Manila,” states Marc Tagle, Chairman and President of Aston Martin Manila. With a potent and improved 6.0 liter V12 engine producing 588 bhp, the Vanquish S has a top speed of 323 km/hr and can sprint from 0-100km/hr in just 3.5 seconds.

The engine is matted to an eightspeed Touchtronic III Transmission, equipped with revised engine manifolds for increased airflow and quad exhaust pipes at rear to say that this Brit is ready to take on challengers on and off the race track. This British supercar is expected to lock horns with the Nissan GTR, BMW M5 and Porsche GT3 in the local market. “With significant enhancements to the engine, chassis and aerodynamics, this supercar will guarantee pure driving pleasure and an exhilarating experience any time behind the wheel,” adds Nicky Mariano, Managing Director for

Aston Martin Manila.

One can distinguish the Vanquish S with its new aerodynamic package, cloaked in a suit of carbon. A 2x2 carbon fiber twill front splitter and rear diffuser will not only accentuate exterior styling, but improve high-speed stability as well. Inside the cabin, the Vanquish S displays luxurious interior features such as Filograph quilt design options, Bang & Olufsen audio and the AMi III Infotainment system with all new satellite navigation.

Combined with striking new quad exhaust outlets, the Vanquish S has a more aggressive appearance, entirely fitting for Aston Martin’s most overtly sporting GT production model.

Vanquish S embodies the very essence of Aston Martin and yet redefines each core element to create a machine of amplified sporting capability; a combination of unbound craftsmanship and power that comes together in utmost harmony.

Mariano also revealed that deliveries of the Vanquish S will commence this month.

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017

Astonishing Super GT Vanquish S unveiled

Nicky Mariano, Managing Director of Aston Martin Manila, shows off the Super GT Vanquish S.

FASTLANE MDPPA imparts value of road safety to children MOTORCYCLE Development Program schools.

Participant Association, Inc. (MDPPA) MDPPA also appealed to Filipino recently conducted its fourth leg of road parents to start educating kids at home safety seminar, this time, for Lourdes about road safety.

School of Mandaluyong third-grade “MDPPA’s road safety seminar has students to help spur road safety among more Filipino civilians this year.

The association reiterates that children are highly vulnerable to the risks and hazards of their road environment.

They hope to mitigate these risks by reaching out to children and educating them through road safety seminars in

Weather-proof your car interior

IF YOU just want an inexpensive, basic universal floor mat to provide some protection for your vehicle’s carpet or spruce up an older car on a tight budget, its time to weather proof it with 3D digital mapped Techmats from Hippo Industries.

Unlike basic universal floor mats which are expensive and hassle to install, Hippo techmats are designed to precisely fit specific vehicles, providing edge-to-edge coverage of the foot wells.

They also have raised edges around their perimeters to trap and contain liquid. All of this better protects your car’s carpets from water, dirt, mud and other messy things that can get trapped into the vehicle’s carpets or spilled onto the floor.

“Our products also have patterns around the techmats that channel away fluids from your feet to a reservoir at the rear edges. Our 3D digital mapped techmats are easy to install, remove and fits most cars, pick-ups and SUV’s,” explains

B3

Lance Chua of Autospecs, distributor and a popular car accessories and parts shop in Banawe Quezon City. “Our floor mats are also designed to not move around or slip on the floor and the best thing about it is they are easy to clean,” adds Chua.

With countless hours spent on research and development, Hippo Industries 3D digital mapped techmats are the most affordable and best designed in comparison to its nearest competitor which is double the price. It is also the techmatsof choice of automotive dealers due to its competitive pricing and innovative material Thermo Plasti Vulcanisil B which is weather and scratch proof .

Check out a full range of luggage, off-road accessories and floormats at the GW2 Trading Corporation showroom in 16B Kabignayan Street, Brgy.

Dona Josefa, Quezon City or call 09177103846/+632-2420959/0929 or e mail at gw2tradingcorp@gmail.com

enriched our students’ understanding of road safety and security. By imparting the value of road safety to our students, MDPPA’s initiative will go a long way toward reducing child road traffic inju-

ries and deaths through children’s improved vigilance and caution,” enthused Ana Bolinao, Lourdes School of Mandaluyong Principal.

MDPPA has successfully facilitated similar activities in San Beda Alabang, Muntinlupa City in 2014 and 2016 and in FEU Diliman, Quezon City in 2015.

The activity is part of MDPPA’s stronger and bolder road safety advocacy typified by road safety seminars for kids and riders and the organization’s ongoing “Helmets Save Lives” campaign.

Volkswagen PH hands over car units to DNS Group VOLKSWAGEN Philippines, exclusive importer and distributor of the country’s top-selling European car brand, turned over Polo Sedan, Touareg SUV and Passat premium executive sedan to veteran fleet management company Delta NeoSolutions Inc. a spinoff company of DNS Transport Group during a recent ceremonial handover.

The turnover marks the beginning of a partnership between Volkswagen Philippines, which in just three years of operations has become among the most awarded and top-selling European car brands, and DNS (formerly Delta Rent a Car Corp.), which has 21 years of experience providing proven effective transport solutions for top-tier multinational companies from the various business districts in the National Capital Region and the different export economic processing zones in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Clark Freeport Zone.

The addition of Volkswagen units into DNS’s growing fleet of over 800 vehicles reinforces the latter’s place as among the country’s leading shuttle service provid-

ers, and adds value to its vehicle leasing and transport services.

The Polo Sedan, Touareg and Passat units are ideal for DNS’s diverse and discriminating business clientele. The 5th-generation Polo has been a favoured sedan of young professionals for its superior build quality despite being in the entry-level category. The mid-size Touareg SUV offers a high level of comfort and power in all driving conditions, highlighted by the permanent 4Motion 4-wheel drive with air suspension. The mid-size premium Passat, on the other hand, has been awarded the 2015 European Car of the Year as well as the 2015 Geneva Motor Show for Best in Class Performance for interior and technology.

Furthermore, all Volkswagen vehicles possess excellent safety features, and are known for their low cost of ownership and fuel efficiency.

Delta NeoSolutions’ partnership with Volkswagen Philippines helps elevate the former’s portfolio of services to worldclass levels, because with Volkswagen, It’s More Than Just a Car.

Caltex teams up with Visa CALTEX, marketed by Chevron Philippines, Inc. is enhancing Filipino motorists’ gas-up experience with the introduction of Visa payWave, contactless payment technology. Visa cardholders can wave their cards in front of readers to pay for Caltex fuel – no swiping, signing or PIN needed.

Visa cardholders purchasing Caltex fuel worth Php2,000 and below at participating Caltex stations nationwide can now enjoy the same fast and secure transactions without the need to input PINs or sign credit card receipts.

They can simply wave their Visa payWave cards in front of the Visa payWave readers.

“As the global payments leader, Visa always wants to reduce friction in the payment process.

We are excited to partner with Chevron Philippines once again to bring seamless customer experience to motorists. Visa payWave is much quicker, more secure and more convenient than cash,” said Stuart Tomlinson, Visa Country Manager, Philippines and Guam.

“Motorists gassing up using Visa payWave will definitely be able to experience quicker service in our forecourts. Motorists can transact securely and with ease, knowing that they remain in control of their card at all times,” said CPI Country Chairman Peter Morris. “To excite consumers to try our latest innovation, we’re also holding a promotion that’s sure to give added value to their fuel purchase.”

To kick off the partnership, Chevron, together with Visa, will be holding the “Drive Away a Millionaire” promo starting April 21, 2017 to July 31, 2017.

Visa cardholders using Visa payWave to purchase any Caltex fuel (Platinum with Techron, Silver with Techron and Diesel with Techron D) at participating stations will get the chance to win Visa card credit worth Php1 million! Three lucky motorists will also receive 1-year Starcash worth Php100, 000.

Each Caltex fuel-up using Visa payWave will entitle motorists to three (3) raffle entries for every Php500 payment increment. Meanwhile, each Visa contact transaction is equivalent to one (1) raffle entry.

Motorists gassing up at Caltex can also get an instant prize of P50 discount to be deducted outright from their fuel purchase.

Motoring

RAMON L. TOMELDAN Edi tor DIN O DIREC TO III A ss t . Edi tor

B4

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017

An ‘X’citing drive with BMW

Karl Magsuci, Marketing Head, and Maricar Parco, President of ACC, strike a sandy pose beside the new BMW X1.

reveals Magsuci.

This second generation variant has sold more than 730,000 units worldwide, and takes to the stage with a body design straight out of the BMW X model mould. The interior of the new BMW X1 offers more space for passengers and

xDrive intelligent all-wheel-drive system, and newly developed chassis technology all help to palpably enhance sporting ability and ride comfort compared to the outgoing model – with fuel consumption and emissions reduced by up to 17 percent, model-on-model.

Text and photos by Dino Ray V. Directo III

I

n celebration of their dominance in the luxury car segment, Asian Carmakers Corporation, the exclusive distributors of BMW in the country, organized a ride and drive with select members of the motoring media in tow.

Hosted by the ‘Iron Lady” of the domestic automotive industry, Maricar Parco, president of ACC, gamely joined the event with her accommodating marketing and media executive Karl Magsuci.

“This event is an up close and personal experience with the new X1. We all need a break from the

hustle and bustle of urban living, so this is an opportune time to do it with us,” explains Parco.

Jump-off point for the two-day event was the Autoallee BMW dealership at ETON along EDSA, Quezon City. After a hearty breakfast, the convoy of spanking new BMW X1 proceeded with the

drive up North towards Subic Bay. “This exclusive lifestyle themed experience will allow you to explore the streets of Manila and the backroads of the North which will highlight the model’s efficiency, superior driving dynamics, best-inclass interior flexibility for cargo space, and seamless connectivity,”

The turbo diesel unit of the X1 is powerful and fuel efficient

luggage, a premium ambience, and functionality grounded in solid engineering. The 2017 X1 is powered by a four-cylinder turbo diesel engine from BMW’s latest generation of power units, with its efficiencyoptimized version of the BMW

First stop of the event was a courtesy call on Pampanga businessman Levi Laus, who owns a string of car dealerships in the Northern part of the country which includes a BMW dealership in San Fernando, Pampanga.

I was in X1 number two car with colleagues Anjo Perez of Wheels Magazine and Ira Panganiban of Autocar Ph. From Pampanga, the convoy spent the morning at a sprawling resort in Lubao, the Pradera Verde.

Moulded after the activity center in CamSur, the Pradera Verde is owned by controversial political figure Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda.

The only one of its kind in Pampanga, the recreational facility sits on a 315 hectare lot which offers guests a balance between relaxation and recreation as they can choose from a list of activities such as wake boarding, a round of golf or RC flying.

Premium feel inside and out The interior design of the new BMW X1 combines the driverfocused cockpit design that has become a hallmark of the brand’s models with touches promoting authoritative, SAV-style driving pleasure and a contemporary premium ambience. Standard equipment includes automatic air conditioning, an audio system with Bluetooth connectivity, USB, AUX-in sockets, and the iDrive operating system, whose 6.5-inch display is integrated into the instrument panel in freestanding monitor form.

The new model has grown in height compared to its predecessor (+53 millimeters), which has helped increase the spaciousness of the interior. And its significantly raised seating position (+36 millimeters at the front, +64 millimeters at the rear) optimizes the driver’s view out over the road.

Knee room in the rear has increased by 37 millimeters in standard specification and by up to 66 millimeters with the optionally adjustable rear seat, while the 505-litre boot capacity is 85 liters larger than that of its predecessor.

We were able to test the spirited response of the X1 during our drive to our final destination in Subic Bay, the Acea Resort. This second generation variant is powered by BMW’s award winning Twin Power Turbo, in-line 4-cylinder diesel engine. With an output of 190 hp and torque of 400 Nm, the BMW X1 bears power that is best for both urban driving and out of town journey with the family. Engine power is hankered down the four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission with Steptronic. The xDrive intelligent all-wheeldrive system also takes its place in the new BMW X1 in a further developed form.

The weight-saving, compact and efficient system uses an electro-hydraulically controlled multi-plate clutch to distribute drive between the front and rear axle just as required for the situation at

LGUs

78 MPD police being probed

By Sandy Araneta THE Manila Police District on Thursday confirmed it is now investigating 78 of their own policemen due to alleged planting of evidence and extortion in different cases.

“There were incidents reported to us regarding planting of evidence or extortion.

Almost 78 MPD personnel are being investigated,” said MPD chief Senior Supt. Joel Coronel in a radio interview.

Last Thursday, a news report said 25 MPD operatives were involved in planting evidence during a raid at a hotel room in Manila last November, where four senior citizens were arrested on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs.

One of the senior citizens died while in detention owing to the heat inside the MPD jail cell.

The case against the senior citizens has been dismissed, but an automatic review by the Department of Justice is being conducted, that is why the senior citizens are still in jail.

Coronel assured that police authorities are now checking on the condition of the remaining three senior citizens, as well as other MPD detainees.

“In fact, there is an agreement between the MPD and the Manila Health Office that all detainees are being inspected and checked up so that their situation is known,” said Coronel.

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption has also appealed to authorities to suspend the operations of the police “until such time they have cleaned up their organization.”

“If possible they suspend their war on drugs, conduct a total cleansing, so that this will not be a cause of national embarrassment and to have peace of mind for us,” said Boy Evangelista, spokesman of the VACC. Sandy Araneta

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

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Makati settles big BIR bill T

By Joel E. Zurbano

HE Makati City government under the administration of Mayor Abigail Binay has fully settled its tax obligations with the Bureau of Internal Revenue for taxable years 1999 to 2004 amounting to almost P902 million.

The city government agreed ciency on withholding tax on with the agency to amicably compensation, expanded withsettle Makati’s purported defi- holding tax, withholding tax on

government money payments, and value added tax covering the six taxable years.

Binay thanked the bureau for its support in working out a “fair and reasonable” agreement for both parties.

“We are very thankful to the BIR under Commissioner Caesar Dulay for working with the city government in finally resolving this concern,” she said.

On April 24, Binay’s spokes-

man and City Chief Legal officer Michael Arthur Camiña turned over the check amounting to almost P302 million to BIR Commissioner Dulay as “full and complete settlement of the Basic Assessment as well as any and all tax obligations” of the city during the period.

Camiña said the check covered the balance of P301,979,220.58 that remained following previous payments made by the city government

‘PROJECT GANDA.’

Members and district officers of Quezon City gathered to launch a muralpainting project under ‘Project Ganda’ of the Quezon City Ladies Foundation Inc. headed

by Harlene BautistaTejedor, sister of Mayor Herbert Bautista, at the QCX Event Center on Thursday.

Manny Palmero

to the BIR from 2005 to 2011, which amounted to P600 million.

Based on the records, the city made payments to the BIR as follows: Sept. 6, 2005 (P20 million); Oct. 28, 2005 (P30 million); Feb. 23, 2006 (P150 million); and Jan. 17, 2011 (P400 million).

Camiña said as part of the amicable settlement, the BIR has approved the city’s application for the abatement of accrued surcharges, penalties and interest, which amounted to P554.7 million.

Both parties have agreed that upon payment of the final settlement amount, Makati City shall “be cleared of any and all tax obligations with the Bureau of Internal Revenue of whatever nature for the Covered Period.”

It was further agreed that the BIR shall “perfunctorily issue the corresponding tax clearance in favor of Makati City for the Covered Period.”

The city government and the BIR have agreed to file before the Supreme Court a “Joint Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice” regarding the Petition for Review dated Feb. 16, 2012 filed by the city government, which appealed the decision of the Court of Tax Appeals upholding the validity of a 2005 assessment of the BIR amounting to over P1 billion.

Makati continues to enjoy robust revenue collection under the administration of Mayor Binay. During her first six months in office, the city posted a 14-percent increase in revenue, topping by over P600 million the revenue collection of the previous administration.

Last January, the city achieved 52 percent of its full-year revenue target of P14.5 billion, with its total revenue collection reaching P7.5 billion.

Estrada visits Tondo fire victims, vows more support QC asks agencies for more deputies MANILA Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada visited Isla Puting Bato in Tondo Thursday morning to distribute sacks of rice and construction materials to 86 families who lost their homes in a huge fire last Tuesday, proving once again he is always ready to help.

Estrada consoled the fire victims as he personally distributed rice and building items, assuring them the city government will help rebuild their damaged houses and provide whatever they need.

“You must take care so that things would not get worse.

You can be assured that the local government of Manila will be here to help you out,”

he told Islang Puti residents during a brief ceremony at Bungad Compound.

Estrada also assured the residents he will bring in the city hall doctors to check on them.

Each family received a sack of rice, eight pieces of roofing sheets, five pieces of plywood, 18 pieces of assorted lumber, and nails.

Before leaving, Estrada also met with the parents of Froilan dela Cruz, the 15-yearold boy who was killed in the fire. “I condole with you,” he told the family.

Upon Estrada’s instructions, the Manila Department of Social Welfare has attend-

ed to the needs of Dela Cruz’ family, including the boy’s funeral expenses.

Isla Puting Bato is an urban poor community situated in the breakwaters of Pier 2 in Tondo. It is part of Barangay 20, Zone 2, District 1.

A fire caused by a leaking gas tank last Tuesday destroyed around 30 shanties and resulted in the death of Dela Cruz.

Within an hour of the fire, Estrada quickly dispatched the city’s rescue units and social workers of the Manila Department of Social Welfare to the site to look after the needs of the affected residents.

MDSW personnel have

been providing free meals, medicines, and other provisions to the homeless residents. An evacuation center was also set up at Delpan Sports Complex.

Last February, Estrada visited Parola Compound, also in Tondo, after another blaze burned down a total of 1,162 houses and left 2,100 families, or 8,555 individuals, homeless.

He also distributed P20 million worth of construction materials and relief goods to the fire victims, and wheelchairs to two paralyzed residents.

Whenever a disaster strikes in Manila, Estrada’s topmost priority is to come to the aid of the affected residents.

Last August, he distributed P3 million worth of construction materials to families in Baseco Compound and Quiapo who were hit by tornado and fire. He also sent 100 city hall workers to assist the residents in the repair works.

In March last year, Estrada also donated P7.3 million worth of construction supplies to families who lost their homes in separate fires in barangays 775 and 770 in Sta. Ana. When a big fire razed 130 houses in barangays 155 and 160 in Dagupan Extension, Tondo on Jan. 1, 2016, Estrada also helped the victims reconstruct their homes. Sandy Araneta

Pampanga fisherfolk get BFAR ‘bonanza’

By Romeo Dizon LUBAO, Pampanga—The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Central Luzon distributed a P20-million “bonanza” of fishing equipment, cash and building material to the fishermen of the coastal towns of Pampanga, especially those operating near Manila Bay, to boost their income.

The beneficiaries are from the coastal towns of Masantol, Minalin, Candaba, Apalit, San Simon, Guagua, Sasmuan, Macabebe and Lubao.

Wilfredo Cruz, BFAR regional director, said the equipment includes 135 motorized fiber-reinforced plastic boats complete with fishing paraphernalia.

The fishing boats, worth P7.8 million in total, are equipped with a marine engine, underwater fittings, life vests and lamps, which will give the fisherfolk more op-

portunity and safety while in the open seas of Manila Bay. During the celebration of the Farmers and Fisherfolk Month here, Cruz said the bureau also handed a P3-million check to Lubao Mayor Mylyn Cayabyab and former Pampanga second district congressman Mikey Arroyo.

The funds are for the construction of a community fish landing center here, so fishermen can now market their catch “without passing through middlemen but to direct buyers for more profits for them,” Cruz said.

“This is the answer of the government to their long-overdue complaint,” he said.

A P600,000 monitoring and surveillance station was also inaugurated in barangay Santa Catalina, Lubao yesterday, which aims to observe illegal fishing along Pampanga’s coastal areas, especially along Manila Bay.

PARAÑAQUE HOUSING. The city government of Parañaque, led by Mayor Edwin Olivarez and China-

based private firm Shanghai Nanjiang (Group) Co. Ltd., represented by Savio K. Chu (second from right) recently signed a memorandum of understanding for a feasibility study on land development and construction of low-cost mass housing units in the city. Under the agreement, the city grants Shanghai Nanjiang exclusive access to relevant documents while it conducts its commercial, financial, legal and technical evaluation of the city’s existing land inventory and operations. After the study, with no cost to the city, the private company will suggest an unsolicited proposal for a public-private partnership agreement in pursuing the project. Witnessing the signing are city administrator Ding Soriano (left) and company officer Danny Wu (right).

THE Quezon City Council has passed a resolution urging the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to deputize qualified members of nongovernmental organizations who want to volunteer as enforcers.

City Resolution 7067-2017, authored by Councilor Eric Z. Medina, said the deputization of qualified NGO members, either as MMDA or LTFRB enforcers, will help both agencies in traffic monitoring and apprehending traffic violators.

“There are so many NGO members who are willing to share their time and, in fact, even their own resources to assist the government in the performance of their public duties provided they are properly deputized so that their acts would have a semblance of authority,” the resolution read.

“Due to the limited number of MMDA and LTFRB personnel, particularly those assigned in the enforcement of their principal mandate, abusive and erring public utility vehicle drivers continue to proliferate to the prejudice of the helpless riding public,” the resolution added.

Qualified NGO members wishing to be deputized as enforcers shall undergo necessary seminars and trainings on traffic laws, rules and regulations, functions and in proper way of apprehending violators, the resolution states. Rio Araja

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

Standard

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LGUs

TODAY FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017 PASEGURUHAN NG MGA NAGLILINGKOD SA PAMAHALAAN (GOVERNMENT SERVICE INSURANCE SYSTEM) Financial Center, Pasay City, Metro Manila 1308

InvItatIon to BId REINSURANCE OF THE FIRE AND ALLIED PERILS INSURANCEOF THE CGO MANILA 1.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), through the GSIS Corporate Budget for CY 2017 wishes to receive bids for the Reinsurance of theFire and Allied Perils Insurance of the CGO MANILA for the period 30 June 2017 to 30 June 2018, with a Total Sum Insured of Eight Billion Eight Hundred Fifty One Million One Hundred Fifteen Thousand Six Hundred Sixty Nine Pesos and 78/100 (PHP8,851,115,669.78) with an Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) of Twelve Million Seventy Two Thousand Nine Hundred Twenty Two Pesos and 74/100 (PHP12,072,922.74) with a premium rate of 0.13640%, with the following particulars: Coverage

Fire and Allied Perils

ABC (inclusive of 20% GSIS Commission)

Retention (%)

Facultative Reinsurance (%)

PHP12,072,922.74

20%

80%

ARMM eyes big budget T

By Nash B. Maulana

HE Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is seeking a P40.65-billion budget from the national government for 2018, regional officials said Tuesday in a forum with their counterparts in Manila.

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2.

Bidders should have completed, within two (2) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

PASEGURUHAN NG MGA NAGLILINGKOD SA PAMAHALAAN (GOVERNMENT SERVICE INSURANCE SYSTEM) Financial Center, Pasay City, Metro Manila 1308

1.

Bidding is open to all interested bidders, whether local or foreign, subject to the conditions for eligibility provided in the IRR of RA 9184.

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information and inspect the Bidding Documents at the GSIS Bids and Awards Committee (GBAC) Secretariat Project Coordinators, Level 3 Core C, GSIS Building, Financial Center, Macapagal Ave., Pasay City, during office hours.

2.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the date of publication of this ITB at the above address and upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Php25,000.00.

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity.

However, the Underwriting Information shall only be available to Bidders who have paid the non-refundable fee of Php25,000.00 not later than the submission of their bids.

5.

3.

The GSIS will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on 22May 2017 (09:00 am) at the GIBAC Conference Room, Core C, Level 3, GSIS Building, Financial Center, Macapagal Avenue, Pasay City which shall be open to all interested parties.

Invitation to Bid PROCUREMENT OF SERVICE PROVIDER FOR THE GSIS CONTACT CENTER PROJECT The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) through the GSIS Corporate Operating Budget for CY 2017 intends to apply the sum of ONE HUNDRED TWENTY TWO MILLION SEVEN HUNDRED SIXTY TWO THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED FORTY PESOS (Php122,762,640.00) being the Total Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments for the contract for Procurement of Service Provider for the GSIS Contact Center Project under a Multi-Year Contract of thirty (30) months (July 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019).

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

The GSIS now invites bids for the Procurement of Service Provider for the GSIS Contact Center Project. Delivery of the Services should be for thirty (30) months from receipt of the Notice to Proceed. Bidders should have completed, within the past five (5) years prior to the deadline for the submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project whose amount is at least 50% of the ABC or at least two (2) similar contracts and the aggregate contract amounts should be equivalent to at least 50% of the ABC and the largest of these similar contracts must be equivalent to at least 25% of the ABC. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the GSIS Bids and Awards Committee (GBAC) Secretariat and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00AM to 5:00PM, Monday to Friday excluding holidays.

GBAC Secretariat, Level 2 Core G, GSIS Building, Financial Center, Pasay City

Bids must be delivered on or before 05J une 2017(8:30 am) at the GBAC Secretariat (for GIBAC), Level 3, Core C, GSIS Building, Financial Center, Macapagal Avenue, Pasay City.

All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

4.

6.

Bid opening shall be on 05 June 2017 (9:00 am) at the GIBAC Conference Room, Core C, Level 3, GSIS Building, Financial Center, Macapagal Avenue, Pasay City. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders representatives who chose to attend. Late bids shall not be accepted.After the Bid Opening, a detailed evaluation of the financial component of the eligible bid/s shall be conducted to determine the Single or Lowest Calculated Bid (SCB or LCB). Only the bidder with the SCB or LCB shall be notified within seven (7) calendar days to submit post-qualification documents.

7.

A sixty (60) day cover note effecting the insurance coverage on its inception date, 30June 2017, will be required by the GSIS from the bidder with the LCB to be submitted within five (5) calendar days from receipt of the notice to submit the post-qualification documents.

8.

The GSIS encourages that the eligibility requirements be submitted before the deadline of submission of bids.

9.

The GSIS reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability tothe affected bidder or bidders.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders starting on 12 May 2017, from 8:00AM to 3:00PM and upon payment of a fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of P50,000.00.

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that Bidders shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

5.

The GSIS Bids and Awards Committee will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on 19 May 2017 10:00AM at the GBAC Conference Room, Level 2 Core G, GSIS Building, Financial Center Pasay City. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be open to all interested parties.

6.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before 31 May 2017, 9:30AM. The official time clock shall be the CAMS located at the GBAC Secretariat Office. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Late bids shall not be accepted.

Bid opening shall be on 31 May 2017, 10:00AM at the GBAC Conference Room, Level 2 Core G, GSIS Building, Financial Center Pasay City. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the given address.

After the Bid Opening, a detailed evaluation of the financial component of the eligible bid/s shall be conducted to determine the Single or Lowest Calculated Bid (SCB or LCB). Only the bidder with the SCB or LCB shall be notified within seven (7) calendar days to submit post-qualification documents.

7. The GSIS reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

8.

For further information, please refer to: GBAC Secretariat GSIS Bids and Awards Committee Level 2 Core G, GSIS Building, Financial Center Pasay City Tel No. : (02)976-4961/ 976-4945 / Fax No. : (02)859-0373 GBAC_Secretariat@gsis.gov.ph / www.gsis.gov.ph (SGD) VP JONATHAN C. PINEDA Chairperson GBAC Cluster II (MS-MAY. 12, 2017)

For further information, please refer to: GBAC Secretariat Project Coordinators GSIS Insurance Bids and Awards Committee (GIBAC) Level 3Core C, GSIS Building,Financial Center, Macapagal Avenue, Pasay City Contact no. 479-3600 loc. 3306 / 976-4655 Email: gbac_secretariat@gsis.gov.ph (Sgd.)Valerie K. Marquez Chairperson GSIS Insurance Bids and Awards Committee (MS-MAY. 12, 2017)

PRESENT: Vice Mayor Councilor “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “

MONIQUE Q. LAGDAMEO - Presiding Officer SHIRLEY C. ASPILLAGA GRAZIELLE IONY N. DE LARA-BES VIRGILIO V. HILARIO JR. DIVINA A. JACOME LUIS S. JAVIER JR. LEONARDO M. MAGPANTAY NELSON S. PASIA EVELYN DELFINA E. VILLAMOR MARIA CONCEPCION M. YABUT NEMESIO S. YABUT JR.

PRESENT: Vice Mayor Councilor “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “

MONIQUE Q. LAGDAMEO - Presiding Officer SHIRLEY C. ASPILLAGA GRAZIELLE IONY N. DE LARA-BES VIRGILIO V. HILARIO JR. DIVINA A. JACOME LUIS S. JAVIER JR. LEONARDO M. MAGPANTAY NELSON S. PASIA EVELYN DELFINA E. VILLAMOR MARIA CONCEPCION M. YABUT NEMESIO S. YABUT JR.

LnB President

ARMANDO P. PADILLA

LnB President

ARMANDO P. PADILLA

ABSENT: Councilor MARIE ALETHEA SJ. CASAL-UY “ FERDINAND T. EUSEBIO “ ROMEO C. MEDINA “ MA. ARLENE M. ORTEGA “ ENRICO J. PUNO “ MARY RUTH C. TOLENTINO ================================================================================ On motion presented by Hon. M.C.M. Yabut, which was duly seconded by all Members present, the Sangguniang Panlungsod of the City of Makati approved City Ordinance No. 2017-061 on third and final reading.

CITY ORDINANCE NO. 2017-061 Authors: Hon. M.C.M. Yabut, Hon. M.A.S.J. Casal-Uy, Hon. D.A. Jacome, Hon. G.I. de Lara-Bes, Hon. N.S. Yabut Jr., Hon. M.A.M. Ortega and Hon. E.D.E. Villamor Co-Authors: Hon. S.C. Aspillaga, Hon. F.T. Eusebio, Hon. V.V. Hilario, Jr., Hon. L.S. Javier, Jr., Hon. L.M. Magpantay, Hon. R.C. Medina, Hon. A.P. Padilla, Hon. N.S. Pasia and Hon. M.R.C. Tolentino AN ORDINANCE GRANTING INCENTIVES TO STUDENTS WHOSE AGES ARE SIXTY (60) YEARS OLD AND ABOVE UPON GRADUATION IN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL IN THE CITY OF MAKATI, SUBJECT TO EXISTING LAWS, RULES AND REGULATIONS. WHEREAS, the City Government of Makati is consistent with its policy in ensuring that education is a top priority of the administration and recognition of exemplary students is a key approach to motivate students further in achieving their dreams; WHEREAS, the City Government of Makati acknowledges the contributions of the elderly citizens during their productive years; WHEREAS, the attention of the City Government of Makati has been invited to the fact of the existence of students in senior high school who graduated recently at the age of 60 years old and above; WHEREAS, the City of Makati finds this instance worthy of official acknowledgment and to show the constituents of Makati, the long standing principle that age is not a hindrance to education; WHEREAS, the Sangguniang Panlungsod hereby deems it necessary to provide incentives to students of public high schools within the City of Makati whose ages are sixty (60) and above upon their graduation in senior high school.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED, AS IT IS HEREBY ENACTED BY THE SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD OF MAKATI, METRO MANILA, BY VIRTUE OF THE POWERS VESTED IN IT BY LAW, IN SESSION ASSEMBLED, THAT; Section 1. A student of any public high school within the City of Makati, who is already 60 years old and above, shall receive incentives without regard of his/her academic standing upon graduation in Senior High School.

LnB President

ARMANDO P. PADILLA

AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING MAKATI DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT COUNCIL (MAKATI DRRMC) RESOLUTION NO. 2017-09, SUBJECT TO ALL LAWS AND EXISTING LEGAL RULES AND REGULATIONS.

ABSENT: Councilor MARIE ALETHEA SJ. CASAL-UY “ FERDINAND T. EUSEBIO “ ROMEO C. MEDINA “ MA. ARLENE M. ORTEGA “ ENRICO J. PUNO “ MARY RUTH C. TOLENTINO ================================================================================= On motion presented by Hon. G.I.N. de Lara-Bes, which was duly seconded by all Members present, the Sangguniang Panlungsod of the City of Makati approved City Resolution No. 2017-042 on second and final reading.

CITY RESOLUTION NO. 2017-042 Authors: Hon. M.C.M. Yabut, Hon. M.A.S.J. Casal-Uy, Hon. D.A. Jacome, Hon. G.I.N. de Lara-Bes, Hon. N.S. Yabut, Jr., Hon. R.C. Medina, Hon. L.S. Javier, Jr., Hon. F.T. Eusebio and Hon. E.J. Puno Co-Authors: Hon. S.C. Aspillaga, Hon. V.V. Hilario, Jr., Hon. L.M. Magpantay, Hon. N.S. Pasia, Hon. E.D.E. Villamor and Hon. A.P. Padilla A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE HONORABLE MAYOR MAR-LEN ABIGAIL S. BINAY, TO NEGOTIATE, ENTER INTO AND SIGN A MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT (MOA), ON BEHALF OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT OF MAKATI, WITH CARITAS MANILA, INC., REGARDING THE CONDUCT OF FAITH-BASED DRUG REHABILITATION PROGRAM ENTITLED AS SANLAKBAY TUNGO SA PAGBABAGONG BUHAY PROGRAM (THE SANLAKBAY PROGRAM), SUBJECT TO EXISTING LAWS, RULES AND REGULATIONS. WHEREAS, Caritas Manila, Inc. is accredited by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to conduct faith-based drug rehabilitation, undertake spiritual and value-based formation, monitor and evaluate the outcome and impact of the program through its Sanlakbay Tungo sa Pagbabagong Buhay Program (the Sanlakbay Program); WHEREAS, the Sanlakbay Program is a parish and community-based drug-rehabilitation and recovery program established by Caritas Manila, Inc. that guides the journey of drug surrenderers towards healing, restoration and rehabilitation and encourages more drug dependents to surrender, undergo rehabilitation, and give themselves another chance to start a new life; WHEREAS, the City Government of Makati desires to take part in the Sanlakbay Program; WHEREAS, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the City Government of Makati and Caritas Manila, Inc. is necessary in order to achieve and guide the parties in carrying out the abovementioned purpose; WHEREAS, the purpose of this Memorandum of Agreement is to set forth the terms and conditions, scope of work and responsibilities of the Parties in implementing the Program of the Restorative Justice Ministry of the Caritas Manila, Inc.;

WHEREAS, the Sangguniang Panlungsod, pursuant to the abovementioned provision, hereby authorizes the Honorable Mayor Mar-len Abigail S. Binay to negotiate, enter into and sign such Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Caritas Manila, Inc. regarding the conduct of Sanlakbay Program.

APPROVED BY THE SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD OF MAKATI, METRO MANILA, in its Regular Session held on 10 May 2017.

MONIQUE Q. LAGDAMEO - Presiding Officer SHIRLEY C. ASPILLAGA GRAZIELLE IONY N. DE LARA-BES VIRGILIO V. HILARIO JR. DIVINA A. JACOME LUIS S. JAVIER JR. LEONARDO M. MAGPANTAY NELSON S. PASIA EVELYN DELFINA E. VILLAMOR MARIA CONCEPCION M. YABUT NEMESIO S. YABUT JR.

Co-Authors: Hon. S.C. Aspillaga, Hon. L.M. Magpantay, Hon. N.S. Pasia, Hon. E.D.E. Villamor and Hon. A.P. Padilla

(a) Voter’s Certificate stating therein that such student is currently a registered voter of the City of Makati; and (b) Barangay Certificate with remarks that such student is a bonafide resident of a barangay in the City of Makati.

Section 5. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its approval.

PRESENT: Vice Mayor Councilor “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “

CITY ORDINANCE NO. 2017-064 Authors: Hon. M.C.M. Yabut, Hon. M.A.S.J. Casal-Uy, Hon. D.A. Jacome, Hon. G.I.N. de Lara-Bes, Hon. N.S. Yabut, Jr., Hon. M.A.M. Ortega, Hon. F.T. Eusebio, Hon. L.S. Javier, Jr., Hon. V.V. Hilario, Jr. and Hon. R.C. Medina

Section 2. Minimum requirements. The following documents shall be presented in order to be entitled to the incentives mentioned in this Ordinance:

Section 4. Let copy of this Ordinance be furnished the Office of the Mayor, Makati Social Welfare Department, Education Department, Office of the City Administrator, City Law Department and other concerned offices for their information, guidance and reference.

for the Commission on Higher Education and other regional agencies, which still operate on a “skeletal staffing pattern.”

The budget also provides compensation packages for retirement, separation and gratuity pay to employees, who could end up being displaced with an incoming Bangsamoro Government.

The new regional setup is currently being crafted by the national government, now at the level of an Expanded Bangsamoro Transition Commission to replace the ARMM within the term of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Alamia noted that poverty incidence has decreased in all ARMM provinces except Sulu, which saw its index rise from 40.2 to 49.6 percent. Elsewhere, poverty in TawiTawi fell from 21.9 percent to 10.6 percent; Maguindanao from 54.8 to 48.8 percent; Lanao del Sur from 67.66 to 66.66 percent, and Basilan from 32.1 to 28.3 percent.

Secretary Don Mustapha Loong of the ARMM’s Department of Public Works and Highways said the region’s P1-billion annual infrastructure program spending has been earmarked for construction of transcentral roads connecting interior municipalities not covered by the Circumferential Roads in Basilan and Sulu.

ABSENT: Councilor MARIE ALETHEA SJ. CASAL-UY “ FERDINAND T. EUSEBIO “ ROMEO C. MEDINA “ MA. ARLENE M. ORTEGA “ ENRICO J. PUNO “ MARY RUTH C. TOLENTINO ================================================================================= On motion presented by Hon. L.S. Javier, Jr., which was duly seconded by all Members present, the Sangguniang Panlungsod of the City of Makati approved City Ordinance No. 2017-064 on third and final reading.

WHEREAS, Sec. 8 (a) (6), of Art. III of RA 7854, otherwise known as the Charter of the City of Makati states that: “(T)he city mayor as the chief executive of the city government shall represent the City in all its business transactions and signs on its behalf all bonds, contracts, and obligations, and such other documents upon authority of the sanggunian panlungsod”;

Section 3. All ordinances, rules and regulations, or parts thereof, which are inconsistent or in conflict with any provisions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

ARMM officials justified their proposed budget, up 22.04 percent from its current P33.31-billion allocation, by saying the government has effectively addressed the high poverty level in the region, as shown by its improving poverty index per province in recent years and an 81.2-percent increase in its Gross Regional Domestic Product during the last five years.

ARMM Vice Gov. Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman said the autonomous region was not a “failed experiment” after all, as he said ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman has “rightly put in place competent and efficient professionals under his excellent stewardship of the regional government.

Then-President Benigno C. Aquino III had described ARMM as a failed experiment in one of his State of the Nation Addresses.

Notably, the ARMM’s GRDP has increased to plus-48.2 percent in 2015 from minus-33 percent in 2012, said ARMM Executive Secretary Laisa Alamia, quoting a new set of figures recently released by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Alamia said the proposed 2018 ARMM budget allocates more funds for personal services (salaries and compensation) at 14.6 percent, to also cover the development of the regular plantilla

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED BY THE SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD OF MAKATI, METRO MANILA, BY VIRTUE OF THE POWERS VESTED IN IT BY LAW, IN SESSION ASSEMBLED, to authorize the Honorable Mayor Mar-len Abigail S. Binay, to negotiate, enter into and sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), on behalf of the City Government of Makati, with Caritas Manila, Inc., regarding the conduct of Faith-Based Drug Rehabilitation Program entitled as Sanlakbay Tungo Sa Pagbabagong Buhay Program (The Sanlakbay Program), subject to existing laws, rules and regulations.

Let copy of this Resolution be furnished the Office of the Mayor, Caritas Manila, Inc., Department of the Interior and Local Government-National Capital Region-Makati City Field Office (DILG-NCR-MAKATI), Office of the City Administrator, City Law Department and other concerned offices for their information, guidance and reference.

WHEREAS, Section 21 of R.A. 10121, otherwise known as the “Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010”, states that the Local Calamity Fund also known as the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (LDRRMF) which is not less than five percent (5%) of the estimated revenue from regular sources shall be set aside to support disaster risk reduction and management activities such as, but not limited to, pre-disaster preparedness programs including training, purchasing life-saving rescue equipment, supplies and medicines, for post disaster activities, and for the payment of premiums on calamity insurance; WHEREAS, the abovementioned law also provides that the unexpended LDRRMF shall accrue to a special trust fund solely for the purpose of supporting disaster risk reduction and management activities of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (LDRRMC) within the next five (5) years.

Any unutilized amount after five (5) years shall be reverted back to the general fund; WHEREAS, the Commission on Audit Circular (COA) No. 2012-002 states that all unexpended/ unobligated balance of the LDRRMF for capital outlay shall be made continuing in the General Fund books until the projects funded therefore are completed and any savings shall be available for use in the disaster risk reduction and management activities as provided in the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Implemented Program (LDRRMFIP); WHEREAS, Section 4.4 of the same circular likewise provides that in reprogramming the unexpended LDRRMF, it is the discretion of the members of the LDRRMC to decide on the use of the unexpended balance of the LDRRMF; WHEREAS, on 12 January 2017 Regular Meeting of the Makati Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (Makati-DRRMC), the Members present agreed to approve the reprogramming of the unexpended balances and continuing appropriation from unimplemented programs, projects and activities charged against the C.Y. 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 LDRRMF through Makati-DRRMC Resolution No. 2017-08 Series of 2017; WHEREAS, on 09 February 2017 Special Meeting of the Makati Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (Makati-DRRMC), the Members present agreed to approve the reprogramming of the unexpended balances and continuing appropriation from unimplemented programs, projects and activities charged against the CY 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 LDRRMF through Makati-DRRMC Resolution No. 2017-09, Series of 2017; WHEREAS, the Sangguniang Panlungsod considering the necessity of espousing Makati-DRRMC Resolution No. 2017-09 , Series of 2017, hereby adopts the aforecited Resolution and hereto attached as Annex “A”.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED, AS IT IS HEREBY ENACTED BY THE SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD OF MAKATI, METRO MANILA, BY VIRTUE OF THE POWERS VESTED IN IT BY LAW, IN SESSION ASSEMBLED, that: Section 1. To approve the programming of the reprogrammed balances charged against the CY 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (LDRRMF) for the inclusion in the Annual Investment Program (AIP) 2017.

Section 2. If for any reason, any part or provision of this Ordinance shall be found to be unconstitutional or invalid, other parts or provisions thereof which are not affected thereby, shall continue to be in full force and effect Section 3. All existing ordinances, rules and regulations which are inconsistent with the provision of this Ordinance are hereby repealed, or modified accordingly.

Section 4. Let copy of this Ordinance and its attached Annexes be furnished to Office of the Mayor, Makati-DRRMC, Office of the City Administrator, City Law Department and other concerned offices for their information and guidance.

Section 5. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its approval.

ENACTED BY THE SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD OF MAKATI, METRO MANILA, in its Regular Session held on 10 May 2017.

HON. SHIRLEY C. ASPILLAGA

HON. ROMEO C. MEDINA

This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its approval.

HON. SHIRLEY C. ASPILLAGA

HON. ROMEO C. MEDINA

APPROVED BY THE SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD OF MAKATI, METRO MANILA, in its Regular Session held on 10 May 2017.

HON. MARIE ALETHEA S.J. CASAL-UY

HON. MA ARLENE M. ORTEGA

HON. MARIE ALETHEA S.J. CASAL-UY

HON. MA ARLENE M. ORTEGA

HON. SHIRLEY C. ASPILLAGA

HON. ROMEO C. MEDINA

HON. GRAZIELLE IONY N. DE LARA-BES

HON. NELSON S. P PASIA

HON. GRAZIELLE IONY N. DE LARA-BES

HON. NELSON S. P PASIA

HON. MARIE ALETHEA S.J. CASAL-UY

HON. MA ARLENE M. ORTEGA

HON. FERDINAND T. EUSEBIO

HON. ENRICO J. PUNO

HON. FERDINAND T. EUSEBIO

HON. ENRICO J. PUNO

HON. GRAZIELLE IONY N. DE LARA-BES

P HON. NELSON S. PASIA

HON. VIRGILIO V. HILARIO JR.

HON. MARY RUTH C. TOLENTINO

HON. VIRGILIO V. HILARIO JR.

HON. ON. MARY RUTH C. TOLENTINO

HON. FERDINAND T. EUSEBIO

HON. ENRICO J. PUNO

HON. DIVINA A. JACOME

ON. EVELYN DELFINA E. VILLAMOR HON.

HON. DIVINA A. JACOME

HON. ON. EVELYN DELFINA E. VILLAMOR

HON. VIRGILIO V. HILARIO JR.

ON. MARY RUTH C. TOLENTINO HON.

HON. LUIS S. JAVIER JR.

HON. MARIA CONCEPCION M. YABUT

HON. LUIS S. JAVIER JR.

HON. MARIA CONCEPCION M. YABUT

HON. DIVINA A. JACOME

ON. EVELYN DELFINA E. VILLAMOR HON.

HON. LEONARDO M. MAGPANTAY

HON. NEMESIO S. YABUT JR.

HON. LEONARDO M. MAGPANTAY

HON. NEMESIO S. YABUT JR.

HON. LUIS S. JAVIER JR.

HON. MARIA CONCEPCION M. YABUT

HON. LEONARDO M. MAGPANTAY

HON. NEMESIO S. YABUT JR.

HON. ARMANDO P. PADILLA LnB President

HON. ARMANDO P. PADILLA LnB President Certified true and correct by:

Certified true and correct by: HON. ARMANDO P. PADILLA LnB President

ATTY. DINDO R. CERVANTES Secretary to the Sangguniang Panlungsod

Attested by:

Attested by:

Certified true and correct by:

HON. MONIQUE Q. LAGDAMEO Vice Mayor & Presiding Officer

Attested by:

Approved by: MAR-LEN ABIGAIL S. BINAY City Mayor

ATTY. DINDO R. CERVANTES Secretary to the Sangguniang Panlungsod

(MS-MAY 12, 2017)

HON. MONIQUE Q. LAGDAMEO Vice Mayor & Presiding Officer

HON. MONIQUE Q. LAGDAMEO Vice Mayor & Presiding Officer

ATTY. DINDO R. CERVANTES Secretary to the Sangguniang Panlungsod

Approved by: MAR-LEN ABIGAIL S. BINAY City Mayor (MS-MAY 12, 2017)

(MS-MAY 12, 2017)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

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World

TODAY

Russia follows Tillerson to Arctic FAIRBANKS―Secretary of State Rex Tillerson traveled about as far from Washington as he could without leaving the United States, but could not escape questions about Russia and climate change.

America’s top diplomat is in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Thursday to lead a meeting of the eightnation Arctic Council, a policy forum for countries with territory in the great white north.

He left behind a US capital in a frenzy over President Donald Trump’s abrupt dismissal of FBI director James Comey, whose agency was investigating Russian interference in the US election.

And he flew into the most northerly US state as concerns were again rising that Trump may abandon or slash back America’s commitments under the 2015 Paris climate change accord.

Neither hot-button issue will be forgotten here, even at a low-profile forum at latitude 65 degrees north in a former gold prospecting town on the Chena river south of the Arctic Circle.

“We’ve got a lot to do tomorrow,” Tillerson told guests at a dinner late Wednesday, including his Russian counterpart and occasional sparring partner Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“But I hope everyone has the opportunity to have a little fun this evening, make some acquaintances and enjoy the fellowship of the evening,” he advised the gathering.

Before he left Washington on Wednesday, Tillerson had met with Lavrov and taken him to see Trump at the White House― a victory for Russia’s efforts to resist diplomatic isolation.

Lavrov will again be at Tillerson’s side Thursday, as the pair present the council a jointlynegotiated motion to ease access to Arctic waters to international climate scientists. AFP

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017

New S. Korean president in calls with China, Japan S

EOUL―New South Korean President Moon Jae-In spoke to the leaders of China and Japan Thursday, hours after a telephone call with his US counterpart Donald Trump, officials and reports said, as he began shaping his approach to the nuclear-armed North.

2017, in Los Angeles, California. AFP

the death knell for their trade.

“I spent my childhood doing this. My ancestors too spent theirs,” Ahmad told AFP at the footsteps of Jama Masjid, a towering mosque built at the height of the Mughal empire.

“Now I am the last. I’m not sure if my children, if the next generation, will do this or not.”

For centuries, Bhishtis have sourced water from an underground basin deep beneath the warrens and Mughal-era monuments of Old Delhi―a bustling quarter hidden away from the modern Indian capital that grew

Crashing wall kills 24 at an Indian wedding JAIPUR, India―A wall crashed down on an Indian wedding party during a storm, killing at least 24 people including four children, police said Thursday with one rescuer describing the scene as “horrific”.

Dozens more were injured when the 13-foot-high concrete wall collapsed, trapping guests who had taken shelter from violent rain in a tin shack on Wednesday night, police superintendent Anil Tank told AFP. “We worked through the night,” one rescue worker at the scene in Bharatpur, Rajasthan state, told India TV news network.

“We tried to rescue as many people as possible, the scene was horrific.”

Tank, a senior officer in Bharatpur, said 26 people were injured, 15 of them seriously. Television footage showed anxious relatives standing next to hospital beds.

Police have launched an investigation and detained a wedding hall manager on charges of causing death by negligence.

“We have registered a case and taken one of the managers of the banquet hall into custody,” district magistrate Narendra Kumar Gupta told reporters.

In a 40-minute conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the two agreed denuclearizing Pyongyang was a “common goal” between them, Moon’s office said.

Ties between Seoul and Beijing have soured over the South’s deployment of a controversial US anti-missile system aimed at guarding against threats from the nuclear-armed North.

Moon also had a telephone call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese news agency Jiji reported.

Seoul is embroiled in a diplomatic dispute with former colonial power Japan over wartime history, but fellow US ally Tokyo is also targeted by the North.

China sees the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or THAAD system as a threat to its own military capability and has slapped a series of measures against South Korean businesses seen as economic retaliation.

In their first phone conversation, Moon and Xi “agreed that denuclearizing the Korean peninsula is the two countries’ common goal”, the South Korean president’s spokesman Yoon Young-Chan told reporters.

Moon, who took office on Wednesday, favors engagement with the North―whose key diplomatic backer is China―to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear and missile ambitions.

Moon also called for “dialogue along with sanctions and pressure” on the North to push Pyongyang to talks, Yoon said.

Moon has previously expressed ambivalence over the THAAD system and told Xi he was “well aware” of Chinese concerns about it, calling for bilateral talks to “increase understanding over the issue”.

The two leaders agreed to exchange special envoys “at an early date” and Moon proposed sending a separate delegation to Beijing that will “exclusively discuss the THAAD and the North’s nuclear issues”, Yoon said.

Echoing the United States’ line, Moon also suggested that China―the North’s sole major ally and economic lifeline―should do more to tame Pyongyang, saying “solving the THAAD problem would be easier if there was no more provocation by the North.” AFP

PREMIERE. Actress Kate Hudson arrives at the premiere of 20th Century Fox’s ‘Snatched’ at the Village TheatDF on May 10,

India’s water men fight tide of history NEW DELHI―Shakeel Ahmad wanders the cramped alleyways of Old Delhi offering water from a goat hide canteen slung over his shoulder, a centuries-old service welcomed by thirsty vendors toiling under the baking Indian sun.

Ahmad is one of the last Bhishtis, a community of water carriers fading into history after generations of quenching thirsts in Delhi’s old quarter.

Bhishtis have been supplying businesses, pilgrims and passersby with swigs from their swollen canteens since the Mughals ruled India, an era before piped water sounded

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“We will investigate if the hall owners had a valid license. In case they did not have a license, appropriate action will be taken against them.”

Gupta also announced compensation of 50,000 rupees ($775) for the family of each person killed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the incident had pained him “beyond words”.

“My thoughts are with the families of the deceased. I hope the injured recover soon,” he tweeted.

Indian weddings are often grandiose affairs with huge numbers of guests and lavish ceremonies that run for several days.

Many families pour their life savings into them, and it is not uncommon for affluent urban families to host thousands of guests.

In 2014 one guest was killed when a floating platform carrying the bride and groom that was suspended from the end of a crane collapsed onto a wedding party.

Disasters more often result from celebratory firing into the air, particularly in rural north India where gun ownership is widespread. AFP

up around it.

Inside a small Sufi shrine, Ahmad―like countless Bhishtis before him―draws water from a deep well, filling his large goat skin canteen known as a mashaq to the very brim.

“The water in this well hasn’t stopped since it was dug,” said Ahmad, gesturing to the murky depths of the pit below.

“It dried up just once when construction began on the Delhi metro... But then it just came back on its own.”

It is back-breaking work hauling a full mashaq around the

crowded, cobbled streets in the blistering Indian summer, where daytime temperatures regularly exceed 40 degrees Celsius.

A full canteen carries roughly 30 liters-enough to earn a Bhishti a mere 30 rupees ($0.50), a pittance for the hard labor involved.

“My children will find it difficult to do this job. I am the last [of my family],” Ahmad said.

The advent of piped water, and cheap bottled options, has decimated their business, but there’s still a handful calling out for Ahmad as he treads the lanes with his dripping flagon. AFP

NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION The public is hereby notified that CORTEXPH RECRUITMENT SERVICES INC., a corporation organized and existing under Philippine laws, with registered address at 15/F Enterprise Center Tower I 6766 Ayala Ave. Cor. Paseo de Roxas Brgy. San Lorenzo, Makati City, Philippines, will be DISSOLVED through shortening of corporate term in accordance with Section 120 of the Corporation Code. The corporation’s dissolution will take effect upon approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the amendment made on the corporation’s Articles of Incorporation to shorten its corporate term.

(MS-MAY 5,12 & 19, 2017)

at the Second Floor, Rm. 237, Hall of Justice Bldg., Quezon City at which date, time and place, all interested persons are hereby cited to appear and show cause, if any, why said petition IN RE: PETITION FOR CHANGE should not be granted.

Let this Order be published at OF NAME IN THE CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH OF MARY JANE the expense of the petitioner in a newspaper of general circulation in MAGSIGAY UNDER REGISTRY the Philippines once a week for three NO. 95-6866 WITH PRAYER (3) consecutive weeks, to be selected by raffle pursuant to P.D. 1079. The FOR THE CANCELLATION OF Office of the Clerk of Court is directed AFFIDAVIT OF LEGITIMATION: to report to the Court the result of the raffle, with notice to petitioner within ten MARY JANE MAGSIGAY a.k.a.

(10) days from receipt thereof.

MARY JANE MAGSIGAY The National Statistics Office, the MADELO, Office of the Solicitor General and Petitioner, any person who has any opposition - versus hereto may file the same, within fifteen (15) days from notice of the petition, SP PROC NO. R-QZN-17-02539-SP or from the last date of publication of such notice.

EPIFANIO IDO MADELO, MERCY Furnish a copy of this Order and SILMOGAN MAGSIGAY petition to the National Statistics Office, PHILIPPINE STATISTICS the Local Civil Registrar of Quezon City and the Office of the Solicitor General.

AUTHORITY, represented by SO ORDERED. LISA GRACE S. BERSALES, and THE CIVIL REGISTRAR OF Quezon City, Metro Manila, March 23, 2017.

QUEZON CITY, represented by

Republic of the Philippines REGIONAL TRIAL COURT National Capital Judicial Region Branch 216, Quezon City

RAMON MATABANG, Respondents. x----------------------------------------x

ORDER The petitioner, Mary Jane Magsigay a.k.a. Mary Jane Magsigay Madelo, filed a verified petition praying for the following in her Certificate of Live Birth issued by the Local Civil Registrar of Quezon City, to wit: a) to cancel the annotation on legitimation appearing on the right top corner of the Certificate of Live Birth of Mary Jane Magsigay Madelo; b) to correct the entry for Item No. 1, “Name of Child” from “Mary Jane Magsigay” to “Mary Jane Magsigay Madelo”; The Court hereby sets the Petition for hearing on May 22, 2017 at 8:30 in the morning before this Court sitting

(Sgd.) ALFONSO C. RUIZ II Presiding Judge Cc: Office of the Solicitor General 134 Amorsolo St., Legaspi Village, Makati City Office of the Local Civil Registrar of Quezon City Quezon City Hall, Diliman, Quezon City Atty. Jesus Christopher PB. Belandres Counsel for Petitioner 11th Flr. Ever Gotesco Corporate Center 1958 C.M. Recto Avenue, Manila Philippine Statistics Administration East Avenue, Quezon City Mary Jane Magsigay Madelo N-029, Mahabang Layon, Sinagtala Brgy. Bahay Toro, Project 8, Q.C.

(MS-Apr. 28, May 5 & 12, 2017)

RESERVE YOURADSPACE NOW! email us at advertise@ manilastandard.net or call us at 832-5547 NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late MA. CHRISTINA CARANDANG DELA FUENTE who died intestate on 01 January 2016 at Lipa City, Batangas Province and left: (1) one fourth (1/4) share in the ownership of the paraphernal property at Tanauan City, Batangas Province covered by TCT No. T-53969 with improvements; (2) one half (1/2) conjugal share in the in the ownership of the property at Las Piñas Municipality covered by TCT No. S-49102 with improvement; (3) one half (1/2) conjugal share in the in the ownership of the property at Las Piñas Municipality covered

by TCT No. (S-49586) T-11126-A with same improvement as #2; and (4) One half (1/2) share in the in the ownership of the capital property at General Trias, Cavite Province covered

by TCT No. 1247471, has been extrajudicially settled by and among heirs as per Doc No. 288; Page No. 59; Book No. II; Series of 2016 before Notary Public Atty.

Karen Kate C. Pascual of Makati City.

MS- APR. 28, MAY 5 & 12, 2017)

Provincial Government of Bataan PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP SELECTION COMMITTEE (PPP-SC) Invitation to submit Comparative Proposals Public notice is hereby given that the Public-Private Partnership Selection Committee of the Provincial Government of Bataan (PPP-SC) and Petron Corporation, the Original Proponent (OP) for the lease and development of the land of the Provincial Government of Bataan with an aggregate area of One Hundred Eighty-Three Thousand Six Hundred Forty-Five (183,645) square meters, more or less, located at Barangay Kitang II, Municipality of Limay, Bataan, under a Lease and Development Agreement, have completed successful negotiations on March 20, 2017 under Stage 2 of the Competitive Challenge process pursuant to the Provincial PPP Ordinance 02, S. of 2013. Under the negotiated terms of the Lease and Development Agreement, the Private Sector Proponent (PSP) shall lease and develop the land registered under the name of, and owned by, the Provincial Government of Bataan located at Barangay Kitang II, Limay, Bataan and covered by TCT Nos. 251890, 251888, 251891, 251881, 251882, 251883, 251880, 251887, 251889, 251885, 251884, 251886. The proposed lease shall entail the development of the idle land into a mixed-use logistics hub for oil and fuel depot operations with a total investment of more than Four Billion Pesos (PhP4,000,000,000.00) under a concession period of TwentyFive (25) years.

Final notice is hereby given to eligible Private Sector Proponents (PSPs) to submit their comparative proposals. Interested PSPs must submit their notarized Expressions of Interest (EOls) to submit comparative proposals to PPP-SC, Provincial Legal Office, Bulwagan, Capitol Compound, Balanga City on or before 5:00 in the afternoon of 22 May 2017. EOls must and can only be submitted by the PSP that will apply for eligibility and submit comparative proposals. The EOI must also contain a statement that the PSP has undertaken and completed a similar development project under a similar arrangement.

Further, the EOI must contain an undertaking by the PSP that it will adhere to the Ordinance, policies, pronouncements of and qualification criteria set by the PPP-SC, and that it will not seek and obtain a writ of injunction or prohibition or restraining order against the PPP-SC, the Province and its officials to prevent or restrain the Competitive Challenge process, the award of the Project and carrying out the Project, and that it will not institute any criminal, civil and/or administrative cases against the officials of the PPP-SC and the Province.

PSPs that will participate must acknowledge the right of the original proponent to match the best qualified proposal submitted in this Competitive Challenge, upon which the PPP Project shall still be awarded to the original proponent under the terms and conditions of the said best qualified proposal.

If no notarized EOI from a proper entity is received within the aboveprescribed period, the Project will be awarded to the OP and Stage 3 of the Competitive Challenge process is deemed terminated.

PSPs which have filed their EOls may obtain the forms for pre-qualifications and eligibility, and submit eligibility requirements on or before 5:00 PM, June 6, 2017. Tender documents shall be issued only to eligible private proponents upon payment of a non-refundable fee of Philippine Pesos: Fifty Thousand Pesos (Php 50,000.00), and must submit their comparative proposals on or before 5:00 PM, July 17, 2017. If no PSP qualifies as eligible and/or procures the tender documents and/or submits compliant comparative proposals, the Project will be awarded to the OP and Stage 3 of the Competitive Challenge process is deemed terminated.

The PPP-SC reserves the right to reject any and all application for qualification and eligibility found not in conformity with the aforesaid Ordinance, relevant issuances, and this Notice.

Prepared by:

Approved by:

(SGD) Atty. MARK JOHN M. SORIQUEZ PPP-SC Secretary

(SGD) ENGR. ENRICO T. YUZON PPP-SC Chairman (MS-MAY 12, 2017)

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Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

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FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017

Sacking unnerves members of House WASHINGTON―US President Donald Trump’s decision to sack FBI director James Comey unnerved members of Congress Wednesday, dividing Republicans and infuriating Democrats who have begun pushing back against the White House after its bombshell announcement.

Comey’s ouster has raised urgent questions over the future of the FBI probe into what US intelligence has called Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and possible collusion between the Kremlin and Trump’s team.

With tensions running high on Capitol Hill, the Democratic opposition called for the Justice Department to appoint a so-called special counsel to oversee the investigation.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected that suggestion.

“Today we will no doubt hear calls for a new investigation which could only serve to impede the current work being done,” McConnell told the chamber.

Comey was officially sacked for mishandling a high-stakes probe into the emails of Trump’s presidential rival, Hillary Clinton.

But the White House explanation was greeted with overwhelming skepticism from Democrats, and some Republicans.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, leading calls for a special counsel, said there was “little reason to think” it was the true reason Trump fired Comey.

“We know director Comey was leading an investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians,” Schumer said.

“Were those investigations getting too close to home for the president?”

Republicans seeking to steady a listing ship focused on some of their more prominent priorities, notably health care.

But the Comey crisis has rocked Capitol Hill. Newly installed acting FBI director Andrew McCabe testifies Thursday in an open hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of three Senate panels investigating the Russia allegations.

And committee aides confirmed that Comey has been invited to testify Tuesday in a closed-door session.

In a sharp new development in the Russia probe, the Senate Intelligence Committee announced Wednesday it issued a subpoena to Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn for Russiarelated documents.

The committee said in a statement that it “first requested these documents in an April 28, 2017 letter to Lieutenant General Flynn, but he declined, through counsel, to cooperate.”

Flynn was sacked after lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his discussions with the Russian ambassador to Washington, leaving him vulnerable to leverage from Moscow. AFP

PREMIERE. Actor Johnny Depp arrives for the world premiere of the Disney movie ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’ in Shanghai on May 11, 2017. AFP

Trump defiant after sacking FBI director W ASHINGTON―The White House Wednesday slapped down calls for a special prosecutor to investigate allegations that Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia, after the US president abruptly fired his FBI director.

Trump’s shock dismissal of James Comey―the man overseeing federal investigations into suspected Kremlin interference in the 2016 vote―has sparked a political firestorm in Washington and plunged his young presidency in turmoil.

Comey himself was measured about the abrupt turn of events in a letter to FBI agents and colleagues, urging them not to be concerned for him.

“I have long believed that a president can fire an FBI director for any reason, or for no reason at all. I’m not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was

executed. I hope you won’t either,” he said.

“It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply.

“In times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as a rock of competence, honesty, and independence.”

Furious Democrats, however, suggested the FBI’s work will now be hopelessly tainted and demanded a special prosecutor akin to those appointed during Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal or the run-up to Bill Clinton’s impeachment.

“We don’t think it’s necessary,”

said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, batting back that demand.

Sanders said the White House wanted the FBI probe―and parallel congressional investigations―to continue and to wrap up their work. “No one wants this to be finished and completed more than us.”

The White House says Comey’s firing was motivated solely by concerns over his handling of the high-stakes probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

A US official said the president had been “losing confidence” in his FBI chief for several months, and that after watching Comey testify before Congress as part of the Russia probe last week Trump was “strongly inclined to remove him.”

The president personally defended his summary dismissal of Comey and rejected suggestions it was linked to the Russia inves-

tigation.

“He wasn’t doing a good job, it’s very simple, he was not doing a good job,” Trump told reporters as hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the White House chanting “shame on you!”

Trump’s comments came shortly after he hosted Russia’s top diplomat at the White House, in his highest-level Kremlin encounter since taking office.

Trump described an Oval Office meeting with Sergei Lavrov, the highest-profile Kremlin official to visit the White House in years, as “very, very good.”

Under Comey, the FBI concluded that Russia tried to sway the election in Trump’s favor through an influence and cyberhacking campaign.

The bureau has been probing whether Trump’s campaign colluded with such an effort -something the president rejects as “fake news.” AFP

Envoy to Qatar says news from home ‘difficult’

PARTY. Harry Styles performs on stage at the iHeartRadio Album Release Party on May 8, 2017, in Brooklyn, New York. AFP

DOHA―The US ambassador to Qatar has expressed her dissatisfaction with the political events back home in a decidedly undiplomatic message posted on social media.

Dana Shell Smith, who has been the American envoy to the Gulf emirate since 2014, took to Twitter in the hours after the dramatic sacking of FBI director James Comey by President Donald Trump.

“Increasingly difficult to wake up overseas to news from home, knowing I will spend today explaining our democracy and institutions,” Shell Smith tweeted, in apparent disapproval of the move.

It was a rare public show of exasperation with political events―either in the US or Qatar―by the envoy, who was appointed by Barack Obama.

The message was posted on May 9 and has been retweeted more than 2,000 times.

Qatar is a key US ally and home to Al-Udeid, the largest US airbase in the region, which houses around 10,000 troops.

Last month, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited Doha and met Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad AlThani.

Trade between the two countries is also growing.

Last year, after Trump’s election, it was announced that gas-rich Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund wanted to invest $10 billion in US infrastructure projects.

There was some angry reaction to Shell Smith’s tweet online, with calls for her to be sacked for her apparent criticism of the president.

In a new post on Thursday morning, Shell Smith appeared to try to take the sting out of her earlier message.

“Diplomats explain & defend our political system.

Can be tough when partisan acrimony so high, but there is still no greater country. #USA,” she tweeted. AFP

Slammed for trying to repeal health law WILLINGBORO―Tirades, yells and cries of “liar” lit up a town hall meeting in New Jersey, where for five hours furious Americans tore into a Republican congressman for attempting to repeal Obamacare.

Tom MacArthur came home to his swing district to face the music Wednesday after helping to write the amendment that allowed a controversial health reform bill to pass the lower house last week.

But if health care was the focus, the largely hostile audience vented general outrage at President Donald Trump, taking issue with his temperament, his sacking of the FBI director and investigations into whether his campaign colluded with Russia in last year’s election.

Hour after hour, the polarization of US politics was laid bare as the former insurance broker was harangued by a crowd of several hundred in the largely Democrat town of Willingboro, northeast of Philadelphia.

“Nobody with a pre-existing condition will either be declined coverage or priced out,” insisted MacArthur, defending the bill.

“That is a lie,” shot back a woman as the crowd groaned.

“Folks I didn’t come here to defend a president tonight,” said the congressman at one point, pleading with hecklers to keep quiet.

Outside the venue dozens of protesters held up posters reading “Killer Tom” and “People without health care die!” near a skeleton.

Inside certified medical assistant Geoff Ginter, 47, stole the show from the front row, subjecting a red-faced MacArthur to a 10-minute monologue lashing the health bill as “immoral.”

“You have been the single greatest threat to my family in the entire world,” he bellowed into the microphone, jabbing his finger in MacArthur’s direction to cheers and applause.

The father from Pine Beach said his wife lives in fear of her cancer returning and their two children have cardiac and thyroid conditions.

“I will not forgive, I will not forget,” he yelled, explaining that he lives in fear of losing his job and not being able to afford health coverage if the bill passes.

“You are the reason I can’t sleep,” he added, slamming the moderate Republican for working with “an orange-haired buffoon” in the White House. AFP

Life SHOPPING

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017

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Anne Klein Mother of Pearl watch set

Gift ideas for MOMS

Bag from Lipault's Spring/Summer 2017 Collection

O

1902 Tradition Eau de Cologne by the House of Berdoues

PRAH called it the toughest job in the world, and we think it just might be. Being the light of our homes, mothers have always been tirelessly and selflessly providing for their loved ones. Thus, on this special day, we want to encourage all the mothers—to treat themselves to a well-deserved pampering.

Here are some of the newest picks nights with Nuxellence Eye Contour. from the world’s best.

With its patented high-tech massage applicator and a smooth blur texture, this Great skin is in eye serum instantly evens out and illuNuxe Nuxellence Detox smoothens, minates the entire eye area. regenerates and revives dull complexion, revealing skin’s youthful glow. Lips can tell Use at night for a skin detoxifying treatDelivering more than just lip service, ment that works while you sleep. In the Make Up Factory offers another truly morning, use Nuxe Nuxellence Eclat for indulgent treat for moms who are makeskin cells to maintain optimum energy up enthusiasts with its Magnetic Lips levels. This anti-aging duo maintains collection. Go ahead and splurge from skin’s elasticity and creates a flawless the collection of 26 exciting shades that and luminous complexion. will have you definitely swooning.

For eyes that are equally radiant, Who says you can’t have an intense remove the evidence of long, stressful matte finish that won’t dry lips? Break

Sling from Lipault's S/S '17 Collection

the rules with the New Max Factor Velvet Mattes Lipstick Collection. It has been uniquely formulated with its creamy, moisturizing, and densely mattefied finish, bringing together what all women love about lip balms, lip scrubs and lipsticks. Finally, gorgeous matte lips can now be achieved.

Hair affair

Put away those conventional rollers.

Take advantage of Babyliss Curl Pods for perfect and kink-free curls all day long. Achieve perfect volume in an instant.

If you’re aiming for a fabulous, professionally done hairstyle, use the salon-grade performance from Vidal Sassoon 25MM Tourmaline Ceramic Straightener.

Glassware from Anchor Hocking (left); Oneida's Mooncrest Flatware (right)

For nails that are as strong as a mother’s resolve, use Sally Hansen’s Moisture Rehab, the must-have nail care product for busy moms. This is the first overnight nail serum that’s boosted with nutrient rich extracts such as Black Orchid, Acai and algae, which help repair and moisturize even severely dry nails and cuticles.

Beat the clock

Give into fashion whims with timeless pieces from the world’s leader in style. Anne Klein delights the stylish moms with its Mother of Pearl Watch Set, which includes pieces in stunning two-tone gold and pink or navy dial with pearling indexes, paired with glamorous bangles, one embedded with Swarovski Crystals.

For the executive moms out there and Hand and nail care beyond the boss ladies of the household, Nine West watches bring a more classic yet compare Keep nails healthy and hands soft sleek look. Sporting simple round dials, with Anny Pink Berry Hand Mousse. both redefine subtle elegance perfect This limited edition hand mousse for everyday wear. is perfect for all the supermoms out there as it brings that ultimate hand Scents for you spa feeling that you can enjoy at home Lift spirits and make a memorable or on the go. entrance on your special day with a fra-

Gundam craze at Toy Kingdom

GUNDAM fans and collectors of all nated the crowd, as well as the Filipino ages recently trooped to the SM Mall of version of the Beargguy diorama and Asia Atrium for the very first Gundam the different Master Grade Plamodel Exposition or Gunpla Expo.

Gundam masterpieces. They A joint project of Toy Kingdom together were also very excited to view with BanDai and Ban Kee trading, this and bring home the limited was considered the biggest Gundam edition and the wide selection event of the year. of model kits.

The centerpiece of the expo Gundam or the Gundam was the three-meter tall RXSeries is a sci-fi media fran78-2 statchise that features ue that advanced and high fasciperformance robots called mobile suits.

They are mostly e q u ip p e d

1/144 Char Aznable's Zaku II in metallic finish

with the latest experimental technology at the time of their construction. The first ever Gundam was the RX-78-2 from the Mobile Suit Gundam. Gunpla means the hobby of assembling Gundam kits.

Gundam model kits are available at Toy Kingdom Express outlets in the SM Stores and Toy Kingdom Stores in most SM Supermalls. Be updated by visiting www. toykingdom.ph; and @ToyKingdomPH on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Gundam fans and collectors troop to the Gunpla Expo at SM Mall of Asia (Inset) HGUC 1/144 Victory Two Assault Buster Gundam in clear color and metallic version

Make Up Factory Magnetic Lips in Copper Rust

grance that embraces all the captivating scents. An elixir of dazzling radiance, Dahlia Divin by Givenchy conjures beautiful memories of endless golden dunes, the sensation of gentle warmth on the skin, and the freshness of a lightly scented breeze.

From the other side of the scent spectrum, the 1902 Tradition Eau de Cologne by the House of Berdoues enraptures with 12 fresh scents that are crafted around three main accords— bold, floral or classic. Enjoy either a fresh citrus scent like Gingembre Vert or a sensual floral scent like Lavande, each a memorable scent that balances freshness, tenacity and elegance.

All these items are exclusively distributed by Rustan Marketing Corporation, and available at leading department stores nationwide.

Life

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FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

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NE of the toughest things about Mother’s Day is finding a gift that can adequately communicate your appreciation and gratitude to the woman who gave you life and love.

The best for MOMS

For the whole month of May, Belmont Hotel at Resorts World Manila (RWM) pampers mother with a well-deserved staycation and treats.

For the special rate of only P6,500 nett, Belmont Hotel’s Be Loved package has everything you need to make mom feel special.

She will surely wake up rested and rejuvenated after a good night’s sleep in Belmont’s luxuriously cozy beds. Each room stay comes with complimentary dinner and breakfast buffet for two.

Active moms can go for an energizing workout at Belmont’s fitness center which comes with a steam room and sauna, or cool down with a dip in the hotel’s rooftop pool which offers breathtaking views of the city.

To make her feel extra cherished, Belmont Hotel adds delightful touches to her special day with a beautifully designed Mother’s Day cake and a gift card.

Belmont Hotel guests can avail of free shuttle services within RWM where a wide range of entertainment, shopping, and dining choices that the whole family can enjoy is within reach. ***

Mothers have always held a significant place in our society and family for thousands of years. Treat the ladies of the month in luxurious living experience without leaving the city at F1 Hotel Manila.

Make moms feel special as they get to dine in for free when accompanied by at least two paying guests at the hotel’s restaurant, F All-Day Dining for P1,499 nett per person for either lunch or dinner for the whole month. F1 Hotel also offers a relaxing staycation with Mother’s Day Room Package until May 17 at P6,700 nett per night in an overnight accommodation for their City Suite. This pampering experience comes along with one-hour in-room massage for mom, to complete the package.

Let them feel how special they are with these limited treats as you visit F1 Hotel Manila in Bonifacio Global City. To learn more, call 908-7888 or visit our website www.f1hotelmanila.com.ph.

Treat mom to a relaxing weekend at Belmont Hotel, which offers a special room rate during the holiday (left); Let her enjoy a restful sleep and sumptuous meal at F1 Hotel Manila, whose Mother's Day package features a complete pampering experience for mothers (right)

UK firm opens first car parts depot in Makati INTERNATIONAL auto parts distributor and manufacturer Britpart, the leading independent distributor of Land Rover and Jaguar car parts, accessories, and diagnostics, launched its first parts and accessories depot in the Philippines at the Britpart Showroom in Makati.

The Philippines is the first venture partner of

Britpart in South East Asia and will be allowed access to more than 30,000 Land Rover and Jaguar parts and accessories of Britpart’s worldwide inventory of products worth $120 million.

With Britpart in the Philippines, current Land Rover, Jaguar owners will now have an easier time sourcing their parts.

Britpart offers first class diagnostics service and car parts to Land Rover and Jaguar car owners in the Philippines

United Kingdom Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad (fifth from left) attends the ribbon cutting ceremony of Britpart Showroom in Makati

Land Rover and Jaguar owners are able to have the comfort of knowing their vehicle parts can be sourced quickly and cared for immediately. With Britpart in the Philippines, it has become easier for them to avail of first class diagnostics services and car parts directly within their own country.

Britpart started out as a supplier of quality parts for Land Rover. For 35 years, Land Rover enthusiasts have relied on Britpart as a trusted source when it comes to car parts and accessories. Soon, the company will bring the trusted Britpart experience to Jaguar.

Today, Britpart is a holistic one-stop shop offering vehicles parts and a wide range of accessories

from wheels to roof racks imported from its 55-acre facility in Shropshire, United Kingdom. It houses an excess of about 30,000 stock items from o-rings to oil seals, engines, and exhaust systems delivered throughout the world at competitive prices.

UK Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad’s presence at the event was an affirmation of his delight at this successful new venture of cooperation between the Philippines and the United Kingdom, strengthening further trade and investment ties between the two countries. Strategically located in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is an ideal market for doing business particularly for companies that are looking to set up a regional operation.

Air-conditioning firm chooses revolutionary platform and methodology CONCEPCION Industrial Corporation (CIC), industry leader in air-conditioning and refrigeration for over 50 years, has enlisted BackOffice Associates and Fasttrack Solutions Inc. as it migrates from BaaN to SAP S/4 HANA to improve core business operations.

SAP S/4 HANA is an enterprise resource planning system that allows for better data quality, single source of truth, collaborative data construction and validation and project visibility and audit trail.

“The most critical element in any implementation is data and this is where we do not want take any chances. This is why we decided to work with BackOffice and Fasttrack. We are dealing with decades of critical information about our products and our customers here,” said Victoria Betita, CFO and CIO of CIC. “And we know that for this project to be a success, we need to be efficient and accurate in the handling of information that goes into our new ERP.” BackOffice Associates is a USbased data company with regional headquarters in Singapore. In the Philippines, BackOffice has an office and also counts with an offshore delivery center in Manila, with plans to scale up its resources pool and skill base.

For over 20 years, BackOffice’s rev-

Present during the project signing are (seated, from left) Concepcion Business Services Inc. senior manager Froilan Rabatan, CBSI assistant vice president for business transformation Roldan Natindim, Concepcion Industrial Corporation chief finance officer Victoria Betita, chief executive of BackOffice for Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East Krish Datta, BackOffice vice president of operations and marketing Patrick Tan, and Fasttrack managing editor Kerwin Malabanan

olutionary platform, the Data Stewardship Platform (DSP) has been known for extracting and transforming and harmonizing data from multiple sources. BackOffice Associates solutions and methodology will allow Concepcion to: *Go-Live on-time, within-budget, and on-quality *Achieve the lowest project risk and the highest possible data quality *Minimize time, cost and work involved in converting from other systems

*Assure compliance to both internal and external standards *Ensure all data is business-ready “Data is the lifeblood of ERP systems,” said Krish Datta, CEO of Asia Pacific and Middle East for BackOffice Associates “We will ensure the data is business-ready before migrating it to a new system and create data validation rules for migration and reuse them in downstream Data Governance projects” Fasttrack Solutions (FTSI),

meanwhile, will implement the SAP S/4 HANA system. FTSI is the only SAP Platinum Partner in the Philippines and has worked with hundreds of companies, of various sizes across different industries, in the Asia-Pacific region to implement SAP systems.

“CIC already has great presence all over the country,” Kerwin Malabanan, FTSI managing director, said. “Aside from its manufacturing capabilities, its sales, distribution

and after-market networks are already excellent. Now it is embarking on this digital journey of sorts.

Acknowledging changing times and trying to adapt to them is what separates the great firms from the good ones.”

“To be business-ready is to have clean, accurate and validated data that completely supports all the business processes in an enterprise data is consistent”, said. Datta from BackOffice Associates.

Migrating to SAP S/4 HANA will allow CIC to have harmonized data, create data validation rules, adjust to rapidly changing environments, go live on time, within budget and onquality, and be compliant with internal and external standards.

“We have established our leadership through building knowledge of what our customers want and need, and where the industry is headed,” Betita said. “Our migration to SAP S/4 HANA will secure our position today and onwards, in these interesting, dynamic times.”

For more information about BackOffice Associates and Data Stewardship Platform (DSP), visit www.boaweb.com. For more information about Fasttrack visit www.fasttrackph.com.

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017

Slimmers World Miss Bikini Philippines 2017 candidates flaunt their killer curves during a press presentation held at Diamond Hotel recently

New Pinoy movies premiere on PH TV

"Vince & Kath & James" lead cast (from left) Joshua Garcia, Julia Barretto, and Ronnie Alonte

Slimmers World Miss

Bikini Philippines 2017

P

RIOR to the coronation night of Slimmers World Miss Bikini Philippines 2017 today, favorites have emerged during the press presentation and pre-pageant competition on May 9.

Twenty-three of the 25 pageant contestants showcased their toned bikini bodies and sharp wit during the preliminaries for Swimsuit, Creative Posing, and Question and Answer held at Diamond Hotel.

Slimmers World branch managers and supporters cheered for their representatives. But the cheers grew louder when the five special awards were given to the winners.

Natalie Lane (No. 12) won the Ms. EB Naturals award, Stephanie Basilio (No. 5) took home the Ms. Beautiful title, Jezza Mae Lim (No. 19) was named Ms. HOP (House of Polvoron) Sweetheart, Reyna Ruhen (No. 22) bagged the Ms. Australia Harvest title, and Princess Bautista (No. 6) was Ms. MP Face of the Year.

Select contestants took part in the random Q&A, wherein pageant judges and members of the media took turns asking questions.

Finalist No. 7, Maria Pantaliano moved the audience to tears when she answered a judge’s question about single mothers, while finalist No. 1, Pamela Villacorte astounded with her answer that was in line with the health and fitness advocacy of the pageant.

The 25 finalists, from Slimmers World branches nationwide, to the pageant night are Pamela Villacorte, Rose Marie Murphy, Nina Keith Viterbo, Nicole Watts, Stephanie Basilio, Princess Bautista, Maria Pantaliano, Jade Lindsay, Weam Ahmed, Pauline De Vera, Jhecyl Salvatierra, Natalie Lane, Venice Encajonado, Shani Basbas, Queenie Vertucio, Marjorie Campoamor, Danica Mae Vilo, Chryzia Cantalejo, Jezza Mae Lim, Ma. Patricia Sarsuelo, Shaznay Corres, Reyna Ruhen, Brigitte Mercene, Liezel Turtoga, and Alexxa Fajardo.

The grand winner of Miss Bikini Philippines will take home P300,000 and represent the Philippines in the Top Model of the World 2017 competition, while the first and second runners-up will each get P200,000 and P150,000, respectively.

The coronation night is happening at Resorts World Manila tonight.

...are not talking about

PEOPLE

Lani Mercado So, she wanted to be the first to drop the bomb, which many have been waiting for decades to happen. Whoever maintains her Twitter account should be fired right away not just for delivering fake news, but for being the first to do so. Lani and her team should channel their energy on better things rather than being active on social media. Perhaps it’s about time she proves that she’s worthy of the award “Most Outstanding Mayor for 2017” by showing us concrete proof.

...are talking about Morrisette Amon Before the year ends, people will see this young singer, whose talent is worthy of international recognition, as part of a talent show that will air across the region.

Morissette has been selected to be the co-host of Grammy winner Michael Bolton for the American singer’s upcoming show, Bolt of Talent. The show has just started taping in Manila, and as expected, Morissette is getting all the attention.

Liza Soberano Her social media post over the weekend angered the rabid fans of the K-Pop group BTS. And instead of explaining herself, the cultured young actress just used sarcasm, in another post, to show she has no plans stooping down to their level. Obviously, Liza knows that arguing with obsessive fans is useless and just a complete waste of time.

Daniel Padilla His lackluster performance at the annual Binibining Pilipinas beauty pageant almost two weeks ago is still an issue. First, a washed-up singer stated something that hurt the fans of the wannabe singer. Then, his mother has been all over social media to defend the young star who apparently refuses to believe that singing is really a form art.

Tito Sotto People just wanted him to apologize, even insincerely. But by the looks of it and based on how he deals with his issues, that will never happen. So to appease the people and manage the growing disgust toward the Senator, his relatives have been trying to publicly apologize on his behalf. Truth is, we’ve seen him many times doing even worse.

His being a TV host while being a politician is just one.

Mocha Uson Her appointment as the assistant secretary of PCCO escalated too quickly with people questioning her eligibility and capacity to perform the job. Just like what happened in her previous appointment, she’s being hit too hard over this so-called “job promotion” calling it a big joke. If that so, why can’t someone come forward, present himself, and prove he’s better than the sexy singer turned blogger.

The problem with a lot of people, they whine too much on social media but they don’t make any solid action to change the status quo.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Friday, May 12, 2017

ACROSS 1 P.D.Q. — 5 Sound reasoning 10 Comes unzipped 14 Earthen jar 15 Socrates’ hangout 16 “Instead of” word 17 Iffy attempt 18 Sleep phenomenon 19 Ponderosa son 20 Arranges systematically 22 Rides a bike 24 Sandals’ lack 25 Angler’s hope 26 Port opposite Dover 29 Scuba gear (2 wds.)

33 Fill with joy 34 Go after 36 London lav 37 Word before Angeles or Alamos 38 Railroad switch 39 Rubble-maker 40 Coast Guard off.

41 Yerba — (old San Francisco) 42 Radium discoverer 44 Grendel’s foe 46 Wild shrubs

47 Pipe fittings 48 Dance movement 49 With pluck 52 Talking big 56 Livy contemporary 57 Gondolier’s land 59 Newsman — Abel 60 Wedding confetti 61 Audacity 62 NFL broadcaster 63 Even once 64 Like some communities 65 Boss Tweed cartoonist DOWN 1 Greenish-yellow pear 2 Palo — 3 Wearing something 4 Jungle, to a jaguar 5 Word on a door 6 Grimm characters 7 Hits the road 8 Novelist — Levin 9 Most outlandishly amusing 10 Clearings

11 Verdi opus 12 Clap of thunder 13 Totals 21 Pate de — gras 23 Diminutive suffix 25 Safari boss 26 Media star 27 Single-handed 28 Rodeo prop 30 Too-too 31 Column type 32 Big handbags 34 Upscale cooks 35 Barbarian 38 Tarnishing

41 Male elephant 42 Pool hall items 43 Lots and lots 45 Gardener, often 46 Hung around 48 Find the answer 49 Pierce with a horn 50 Tel — 51 Squeakers 52 A Simpson 53 Rick’s old flame 54 Barely beats 55 Cultured fellow 58 Herbal infusion

ABS-CBN TVplus treats Filipinos with the TV premiere of three new Pinoy movie blockbusters via the Super Kapamilya Box Office (KBO), including Vince & Kath & James, My Ex & Whys, and Mano Po 7: Chinoy for a perfect summer movie bonding at home this May. Families can enjoy fresh from the cinema movies on Super KBO bundled with other local and international movies every weekend of May priced at only P99.

Starring Julia Barretto, Joshua Garcia, and Ronnie Alonte, Vince & Kath & James is the highest grossing MMFF 2016 film based on the bestselling ABS-CBN Publishing book series written by Queen Elly. The book’s story first became a hit online last year as Queen Elly presented her “romantic series” as screenshots of SMS exchanges between two teens on social media.

Apart from Vince & Kath & James (May 13-14), families can also watch Madrasta, My Cactus Heart, Dalaw, Mutant Chronicles, The Condemned, The Greatest Love catch up, and MYX. My Ex & Whys (May 20-21), with Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, is a romantic movie about a playboy (Enrique) determined to prove to his ex-girlfriend Cali (Liza) that he has changed his ways. It earned P341 million in the box office worldwide.

It is bundled with Magic Temple, Relaks, It’s Just Pag-Ibig, The Heal-

ing, My Bloody Valentine, A Little Bit of Heaven, The Greatest Love catch up, and MYX. Meanwhile, Mano Po 7: Chinoy (May 27-28), Regal’s seventh and final installment of the Mano Po franchise, stars Richard Yap, Jean Garcia, Enchong Dee, and Janella Salvador, is about the struggles of a modern ChineseFilipino family. The star-studded movie will be shown together with Crazy, Beautiful You, My Amnesia Girl, Oro, Plata, Mata, My Soul to Take, Dark Floors, The Greatest Love catch up, and MYX. To watch your chosen movie on Super KBO, use the code representing the airing date of the movie and text, SUPERKBO99 space> MAY13 OR MAY20 OR MAY27 <space> <TVPLUS BOX ID> to 2131 using ABS-CBNmobile. Alternatively, you can stream the movies online via abscbnmobile.com/kbo.

ABS-CBN TVplus is available in Metro Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao, Metro Manila, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Rizal, Laguna, Pampanga, Tarlac, Benguet, and Cavite.

Super KBO is ABS-CBN’s commitment to enrich the lives of the digital Filipino with entertainment they can easily access priced at P99. For more information, visit visit tvplus.abs-cbn.com and abscbnmobile.com.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017

Dolphy in "Ang Tatay Kong Nanay"

Vilma Santos in "Anak"

Sharon Cuneta in "Madrasta"

Maricel Soriano and Edu Manzano in "Abandonada"

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HIS Mother’s Day, iWant TV celebrates mothers of all kinds by revisiting some of the most iconic moms in Pinoy movie history.

Catch these timeless characters played by the most iconic actors on iWant TV this May, and appreciate the struggles that mothers go through for the love of their children.

1. Shirley in In My Life (Vilma Santos) Memorable line: “Anong hindi ko siya kilala? Anak ko siya.

Sa ‘kin siya nanggaling. Ako nagpalaki sa kanya kaya’t bawat hinga at utot niya, alam ko ang ibig sabihin!”

The Star for All Seasons plays Shirley, a strict librarian who flies to New York to visit her only son Mark (played by Luis Manzano), intending to stay for good. She finds herself having to bond with her son’s boyfriend Noel, played by John Lloyd Cruz. An unexpected tragedy occurs, and Shirley finds herself struggling in her role as a mother as she slowly lets go of things she cannot control.

2. Coring in Ang Tatay Kong Nanay (Dolphy) Memorable line: “Marunong rin akong tumawa, marunong din akong umiyak. Yun ngang pusa diyan, kung natatapakan, umiiyak rin. Hanggang ngayon I’m trying very hard to do something about myself. Ewan ko nga ba. Kaya bakit? Bakit ako mahihiya?”

The legendary Comedy King Dolphy plays Coring, a transvestite, in Lino Brocka’s Ang Tatay Kong Nanay. Dolphy brings his signature comedic timing and depth of character in this multi-awarded movie.

Coring becomes father and mother when he adopts his exlover’s son Nonoy, trying to mask his homosexuality and true self to spare Nonoy from shame and embarrassment. Watch

Vilma Santos in "In My Life"

GMA Network wins big

at Box Office Entertainment Awards

5 ICONIC Pinoy movie moms on iWant TV

Dolphy’s emotional portrayal as he navigates parenthood, even as Nonoy is taken away by his biological mother in an effort to give him a better life.

3. Josie in Anak (Vilma Santos) Memorable line: “Sana maisip mo kahit kaunti kung gaano kasakit sa akin ang magalaga ng mga batang hindi ko kaanoano samantalang kayo, kayong mga anak ko hindi ko man lang maalagaan. Alam mo ba kung gaano kasakit iyon sa isang ina?”

The Star for All Seasons plays Josie, a long-time OFW in Hong Kong, who sacrificed so much to provide a better life for her family.

When they finally reunite, Carla, Josie’s eldest daughter (Claudine

Barretto) is rebellious and refuses to welcome her mother.

Her son Michael (Baron Geisler) is in trouble at school, and her youngest daughter doesn’t even remember her. As her family’s problems get worse, Josie is faced with a difficult decision—to let go and return to her life in Hong Kong or to heal with her family?

4. Melinda in Mano Po: a Mother’s Love (Sharon Cuneta) Memorable line: “Walang hiyain mo na ang lahat, huwag lang ang mga anak ko.”

The Megastar plays Melinda, a Chinese Filipino woman married to a Chinese man whose family disapproves of the marriage.

After a string of bad luck and business failures, Melinda becomes a poor widow. Her

four children were kidnapped by her in-laws. Melinda vows to get her children back after much suffering, and successfully builds up an empire. Now a billionaire, she struggles to repair her relationship with her children, who were brainwashed by her in-laws.

5. Gemma in Abandonada (Maricel Soriano) Memorable line: “Hanggang hindi ko nakukuha ang anak ko, mananatiling manhid ang puso ko sa sinasabi mong pagmamahal.”

The Diamond Star is Gemma, a nurse who had to go to Canada to earn na living. Her husband, played by Edu Manzano, and their son, stay in the Philippines as she suffers abroad, even spending time

in jail. When she finally comes home, she is devastated to find that her husband remarried a rich woman, pretending that their son is his orphaned nephew. She works as a yaya in their household, vowing to get her son back from her manipulative and cunning husband.

Catch these actors in the iconic roles in the now classic movies featured this month on iWant TV and celebrate all the different kinds of mothers and the sacrifices they make for the love of their children.

To watch Kapamilya shows and more on iWant TV, simply log-on using your email address or mobile numbers. iWant TV is open to ABS-CBN Mobile, Smart, Sun Cellular, Talk ‘N Text and PLDT Home subscribers.

Brian Poe Llamanzares is your Time Master THIS May, a new brand of exquisite timepieces emerges from the depths of the deep blue. Drawing inspiration and strength from the mythical god of the waters, these deepsea treasures are packed with powerful features that are truly made to impress, like uperior craftsmanship, stylish elegance, durability and versatility for every type of watch wearer.

Introducing, the limited edition Time Master Poseidon Collection.

Time Master is the brainchild of youth ambassador and budding entrepreneur Brian Poe-Llamanzares. A man of many passions, Brian thrives in almost anything he sets his mind to, dabbling in entertainment, sports, TV reporting and politics for most of his young life. He is a certified public servant thanks to his experience campaigning for his mom, the indefatigable Senator Grace Poe. A lover of learning, Brian continues to broaden his perspective with more studies in prestigious universities, no less, successfully completing Stanford’s Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies Professional Certification Program and Wharton’s

Box office royalties Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza

Global Strategic Leadership Program, and most recently, getting accepted to Columbia University’s Climate and Society Graduate School Program.

It is no wonder that Lifestyle Asia Magazine featured him as one of the thirty “Game Changers” among today’s ‘It’ generation. Only 25, Llamanzares is certainly blazing his own trail of achievements, and launching his Time Master brand is clearly nothing short of perfect timing.

Llamanzares may be a rookie in the cut-throat world of business, but he comes armed with great perspective, motivation, and a bit of nostalgia thrown in. “I love watches! I grew up with a dad who loves watches.

I was given watches to mark special occasions in my life like my graduation from college. There’s a certain sense of pride that comes with receiving a watch. Whenever

you see it, you remember the milestone that it marks. That’s why for me, creating a watch a n d

being a part of people’s lives in that way is a dream come true,” he says.

A stickler for time, Brian turns his dream into a business that promotes punctuality and precision. He believes that being on time is something that should not be taken for granted and so readily blamed on the sorry state of Manila traffic. He explains, “In a city where it takes you one hour to go down the road during rush hour, being on time becomes a premium. People now expect guests, interviewees, their bosses to show up late.

But when people show up on time or early, it’s a friendly reminder that it is possible to go above and beyond the expectations people set for you.

That’s why for me, precision is everything when it comes to watchmaking.

I can proudly say the watch m o v e m e n t has Japanese precision, but the design is proudly Filipino.”

Each Time Master watch is indeed a timeless masterpiece.

While elegant timepieces are a luxury for many, the brand’s range of high-quality products is remarkably affordable. For Brian, spending on quality doesn’t automatically mean spending a fortune, which is why all the watches in the Poseidon line are created with the highest standards, the finest raw materials and the most eyecatching designs. Time Master believes that every person is special and it takes a special brand of watch to reflect this uniqueness.

Putting another premium on creating relationships and building trust, the brand endeavors to be a dependable and enduring partner to its consumers through the years.

As a way of giving back to society, Time Master partners with MovEd, a charity that sends less fortunate kids to school and helps jumpstart their future. With every Time Master purchase, buyers are not just models of success, but sharers of success to the needy as well. A venture with a heart, Brian is clearly on the right path, and he’s got all the time in the world to make good business happen.

GMA Network takes pride in giving quality entertainment to Filipino viewers as the 48th Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation (GMMSF) BoxOffice Entertainment Awards recognized some of its prized artists and programs.

Kapuso Primetime King Dingdong Dantes is first on the list winning the coveted Film Actor of the Year award.

The Phenomenal love team of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza won the Prince and Princess of Philippine Movies after the success of Imagine You and Me. At present, they star in one of the popular series of GMA Network, Destined To Be Yours.

Meanwhile, Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez-Alcasid bagged the Female Concert Performer of the Year with Pambansang Bae Alden Richards taking home another as the Male Recording Artist of the Year.

Hay, Bahay! actor and Eat Bulaga! host and Vic Sotto won the Comedy Actor of the Year, with the noontime show’s pride That’s My Bae as the Most Promising Recording/Performing Group.

In the News & Public Affairs category, 24 Oras remains to be trusted as the no.1 source of news awarded as the Most Popular TV Program.

Kapuso artists who soared internationally were also recognized with the Global Achievement by a Filipino Artist award namely, Paolo Ballesteros for winning Best Actor at the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival for Die Beautiful; Ai-Ai delas Alas for her Best Female Actor award at the 7th Queens World Film Festival in New York for the movie Area; and Lotlot de Leon for her Sole Acting Citation for Exceptional Performance award at the All Lights India International Film Festival for the film 1st Semester.

The 48th Box Office Entertainment Awards will hand over all the trophies on May 14 at the Henry Lee Irwin Theater in Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City.

Regine Velasquez is Female Concert Performer of the Year